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CONTENTS. 


Observations  on  Cup-shaped  and  other  Lapidarian  Sculpture  in  tnE  Old  World  and  in 
America.    By  Charles  Eau. 

On  Prehistoric  Trephining  and  Cranial  Amulets.     By  Robert  Fletcher,  M.  R.  C.  S.,  Eng. 
Acting  Asst.  Surgeon  U.  S.  Army. 


A  Study  op  the  Manuscript  Troano,  by  Cyrus  Thomas,  Pn.  D. ;  with  an  Introduction   by 
D.  G.  Brinton,  M.  D.  ' 


Vx 


DEPARTMENT    OF    THE    INTERIOR 

U.  S.  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  REGION 
J.  W.  POWELL  IN  Charge 


OBSERVATIONS 


CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAPJAN  SCULPTURES 


THE  OLD  WORLD.  AND  IN  AMERICA 


CHARLES    HAXJ 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT     PRINTING     OFFICE 

1881 


CONTENTS, 


Page. 

Introduction 7 

Part  I. — Primitive  lapidariaii  sculptures  iu  Europe  ami  Asia 9 

Scotland,  etc 9 

Englanil 15 

Ireland 17 

France 18 

Switzerland 21 

Germany  and  Austria 2'2 

Denmark  25 

Sweden 28 

India 31 

Part  II. — Primitive  lapidarian  sculptures  in  America 41 

North  America 41 

Central  America 0(1 

Part  III. — Views  concerning  the  sij^niticance  of  cup-shaped  and  other  primitive  sculptures 71 

Supplementary  note 95 

Summary 97 

Index 105 

3 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS, 


Fig.    1. — Common  types  of  European  cup  and  ring-cuttings. 

Fig.    2.— Chief  deviations  from  the  general  types  of  European  cup  and  ring-cuttings. 

Fig.    3. — Sculptured  rock-surfaces  at  Auchnabreach,  Argyleshire,  Scotland. 

Fig.    4. — Cup  and  ring-cuttings  on  a  menhir  at  Ballymenach,  Argyleshire,  Scotland. 

Fig.    5.— Dolmen  with  cup-marked  cap-stone,  near  Clynnog  Fawr,  Caernarvonshire,  Wales. 

Fig.    6. — Kistvaen  surrounded  by  blocks,  one  of  which  is  cup-marked.    Oatlands,  Isle  of  Man. 

Fig.    7.— Cupped  stono  in  a  chambered  tumulus  at  Clava,  Inverness-shire,  Scotland. 

Fig.    8. — Cupped  monolith  near  Dunbar,  East-Lothian,  Scotland. 

Fig.    9. — Largo  cupstoue  near  Balvraid,  Inverness-shire,  Scotland. 

Fig.  10. — Cupped  stono  found  at  Laws,  Forfarshire,  Scotland. 

Fig.  11.—  Stone  with  cup  and  ring-cuttings.  County  of  KeiTy,  Ireland. 

Fig.  12. — Incised  stone  in  the  tumulus  at  Lough  Crew,  Ireland. 

Fig.  13. — Carving  of  a  colt  in  a  plumed  handle,  on  the  roof  of  a  dolmen  near  Locmariaker,  Brittany. 

Fig.  14. -^Incised  chamber-stones  in  the  tumulus  of  Gavr'  Inis,  Brittany. 

Fig.  15. — "La  Bouie  do  Gargantua,"  a  cupped  boulder  near  Belley,  Ain,  France. 

Fig.  16. — Cup-cuttings  on  a  rock  near  Chirac,  Lozfere,  France.  , 

Fig.  17. — Cupped  block  near  Mont-la-Ville,  Canton  of  Vaud,  Switzerland. 

Fig.  18.— Fac-simile  representation  of  a  cupped  rock  near  Obcr-Farrcustiidt,  Prussian  Saxony. 

Fig.  19. — Fac-simile  representation  of  a  cupped  rock  near  Meissen,  Saxony. 

Fig.  20. — Cupped  backside  of  a  runic  stone  at  Eavnkilde,  Jiitland,  Denmark. 

Fig.  21. — Tracings  of  ships  and  wheels  on  the  roof-stone  of  a  funeral  chamber  near  Herrestrup,  Seeland, 

Denmark. 
Fig.  22. — The  "  Balder  Stone,"  near  Falkiiping,  Sweden. 

Fig.  23. — Stone  slab  showing  cups  and  engraved  designs.    From  a  tumulus  in  Scania,  Sweden. 
Fig.  24. — One  of  the  engraved  slabs  of  the  Kivik  monument,  Scania,  Sweden. 
Fig.  25.- — Rock-sculptures  in  Quille  Ilarad,  Lan  of  Bohus,  Sweden. 
Fig.  26. — Cup  and  ring-cuttings  at  Chandeshwar,  India. 
Fig.  27. — Section  of  a  stone  Mahadeo  in  the  temple  of  Chandejshwar,  India. 
Fig.  28. — Mahadeo  in  a  shrine  at  Benares,  India. 

Figs.  29,  30,  and  31. — Mahadeo  symbols  engraved  on  stone  slabs  in  the  tcmjile  of  Chandeshwar,  India. 
Fig.  32. — Pitted  stone  found  near  Franklin,  Williamson  County,  Tennessee. 
Fig.  33. — Pitted  stone  from  Muucy,  Lycoming  County,  Pennsylvania. 
Fig.  34. — Nut-stone  from  the  neighborhood  of  Loudon,  Loudon  County,  Tennessee. 
Fig.  35. — Cupped  stone  found  near  Groveport,  Franklin  County,  Ohio. 
Fig.  36. — Cupped  stono  from  the  neighborhood  of  Portsmouth,  Ohio. 
Fig.  37. — Cupped  stone  from  Summit  County,  Ohio. 
Fig.  38. — Earthenware  jiaint-cnps  used  by  the  Zunis,  New  Mexico. 

Fig.  39. — Stone  mortar  and  pestle  with  a  cup-shaped  cavity.     From  the  Tesuque  Indians,  Now  Mexico. 

6 


6  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Figs.  40  autl  41. — Terra-cotta  spindle-whorls  from  Tezcuco,  Mexico. 

Fig.  4'.J. — Cupped  sandstone  block,  discovered  in  Lawrence  County,  Oliio;  now  in  Cincinnati. 

Fig.  43. — Cupped  granite  boulder  at  Niantic,  New  London  County,  Connecticut. 

Fig.  44. — Cupjied  (?)  rock  in  the  neighborhood  of  Orizaba,  Mexico. 

Fig.  45. — Large  boulder  with  mortar-cavities.     Sant.a  Barbara  County,  California. 

Fig.  46. — Sculptures  on  Bald  Friar  Rock  iu  the  Susquehanna  River,  Maryland. 

Fig.  47. — Sculptured  slab  from  Bald  Friar  Rock. 

Fig.  48. — Northeastern  end  of  Bald  Friar  Rock. 

Figs.  49,  50,  and  51. — Sculptures  on  Bald  Friar  Rock. 

Fig.  52. — Sculptured  boulder  iu  the  Gila  Valley,  Arizona. 

Fig.  53. — Rock-carving  iu  the  San  Pete  Valley,  Utah. 

Figs.  54,  55,  56,  and  57. — Rock-paintings  in  Lake  County,  Oregon. 

Fig.  58. — Rock-sculptures  near  David,  Chiriqui,  and  Northumbrian  types. 

Fig.  59. — Holy-water  stone  in  a  church  at  Stro  in  Scania,  Sweden. 

Fig.  60. — Holy-water  stone  in  a  church  at  Oennarp,  Scania,  Sweden. 

Fig.  61. — Cups  and  furrows  on  the  wall  of  Saint  Mary's  Church,  at  Greifswald,  Pomerauis. 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN 
SCULPTURES  IN  THE  OLD  WORLD  AND  IN  AMERICA. 


BY  CHAELES   RAU. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  attention  of  European  archaeologists  has  been  directed  for  several 
5'ears  to  that  very  curious  and  widely-distributed  class  of  antiquities,  which 
are  called  pierres  a  cctielles  in  French,  and  Sclialensteinc  in  German,  and  to 
which  the  English  designation  "cup-stones"  might  with  propriety  be  applied. 
In  a  general  way,  they  may  be  defined  as  stones  and  rocks  upon  which  cup- 
shaped  cavities,  varying  in  size  and  number,  are  executed  by  the  hand  of 
man.  But  as  these  cup-like  excavations  often  appear,  more  especially  in 
the  Old  World,  associated  Avith  engraved  figures  of  a  different  character,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  consider  them  in  connection  with  the  latter. 

Though  the  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  cup-stones  in  Europe  dates 
back  many  j'ears,  it  is  only  of  late  that  archaeologists  have  commenced  to 
view  them  in  a  broader  light,  and  to  speculate  on  their  ethnic  significance. 
Professor  E.  Desor,  in  particular,  published  not  long  ago  a  pamphlet,  enti- 
tled "Les  Pierres  h  Ecuelles"  (Geneve,  1878),*  in  which  he  describes,  with 
his  usual  clearness,  their  occurrence  in  different  countries,  making  this  dis- 
tribution a  basis  for  drawing  inferences  bearing  on  the  important  question  of 
the  migration  of  man  in  long-past  ages. 

'Reprinted  iu:  MaWriaux  pour  1' Histoire  Primitive  ot  Naturclle  de  I'Hommo,  1878,  p.  259,  etc. 
Professor  Desor  republished  tLis  essay,  enriclicd  by  additional  facts,  iu  liis  "M61aiigcs  Scicntifiques," 
Paris,  NeucUatel,  et  Genfsve,  187'J. 


8      CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

It  is  certainly  a  matter  of  great  interest  that  cup-stones,  analogous  to 
those  of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere,  are  found  in  the  United  States,  and,  as  it 
appears,  in  other  parts  of  the  Western  Continent.  Before  entering  upon 
the  task  of  describing  them  so  far  as  my  present  information  permits,  I  will 
give,  for  the  sake  of  comparison  and  direct  reference,  a  brief  account  of  the 
cup-stones  of  the  Old  World,  relying  chiefly  on  Professor  Desor's  excellent 
pamphlet,  yet  availing  myself  in  addition  of  such  other  writings  of  similar 
bearing  as  happen  to  be  at  my  command.  In  consideration  of  the  scanti- 
ness of  my  literary  sources,  I  cannot  claim  for  this  r^sumd  anything  like 
completeness;  but,  nevertheless,  I  hope  it  will  bring  out  the  principal  fea- 
tures of  the  subject. 


PA.RT  I. 

PRIMITIVE  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES  IN  EUROPE  AND  ASIA 

SCOTLAND,  ETC. 

Foremost  among  the  works  relating  to  the  pecuhar  kind  of  sculpture 
under  consideration  stands  that  entitled  "Archaic  Sculptures  of  Cups,  Cir- 
cles, etc.,  upon  Stones  and  Rocks  in  Scotland,  England,  and  other  Coun- 
tries," by  Professor  J.  Y.  Simpson.*  The  author's  descriptions  chiefly  relate 
to  the  occurrence  of  cupped  and  other  engraved  stones  in  Scotland;  but  also 
those  that  have  been  observed  in  England,  Wales,  Ireland,  Brittany,  Sweden, 
and  Denmark  are  mentioned  hj  way  of  comparison. 

According  to  Professor  Simpson,  the  cup-shaped  cavities  and  other 
sculptured  figures  (presently  to  be  described)  occur  in  the  British  Islands, 
more  especially  in  Scotland,  as  follows: — - 

I.  On  stones  connected  with  archaic  sepulture,  as — 

1.  On  stones  of  megalithic  circles, 

2.  On  stones  of  megalithic  avenues, 

3.  On  stones  of  dolmens, 

4.  On  chambered  tumuli, 

5.  On  stone  cists  and  covers  of  urns, 

6.  On  standing  stones  or  monoliths. 

*  Publislicd  in:  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  Eighty-fifth  Session 
(1864-6.'>) ;  Edinburgh,  1867.  The  copy  at  my  disposal  (from  the  Library  of  Congress)  has  no  special  title, 
and  I  iind  that  the  work  is  quoted  under  ditferent  titles.  I  select  that  given  by  Professor  Desor  in  his 
essay  on  cup-stones. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  Sir  James  Y.  Simpson,  the  distinguished  and  much-occupied  Edinburgh 
physician,  Tvho  first  employed  aniesthetics  in  obstetric  practice,  found  leisure  to  devote  himself  to  thorough 
archteological  investigations,  and  to  produce  a  work  of  high  merit. 

9 


10  cur  SOAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SGULPTUKEB. 

II.  On  stones  connected  with  arclmic  habitations,  as — 

7.  In  weems,  or  iinderground  houses, 
M.  In  fortified  buildings, 
9.  In  and  near  ancient  towns  and  camps, 
10.  On  the  surface  of  isohited  rocks  (in  places  probably  once 
inhabited). 

III.  On  isolated  stones. 

Professor  Simpson  reduces  the  forms  of  the  sculptures  in  question  to 
seven  elementary  types,  here  reproduced  and  comprised  under  Fig.  1,  in 
which  each  type  is  distinctly  indicated.  I  also  briefly  present  such  extracts 
from  the  author's  accompanying  explanations  as  will  serve  to  afford  addi- 
tional information  on  the  subject. 

FiKST  TYPE. —  Single  cups. — They  are  the  simplest  type  of  these  ancient 
stone-cuttings.  Their  diameter  varies  from  one  inch  to  three  inches  and 
more,  while  they  are  often  only  half  an  inch  deep,  but  rarely  deeper  than 
an  inch  or  an  inch  and  a  half.  They  commonly  appear  in  different  sizes  on 
the  same  stone  or  rock,  and  although  they  sometimes  form  the  only  sculpt- 
ures on  a  surface,  they  are  more  frequently  associated  with  figures  of  a 
different  character.  He  observes  that  they  are  in  general  scattered  without 
order  over  the  surface,  but  that  occasionally  four  or  five  or  more  of  them 
are  placed  in  more  or  less  regular  groups,  exhibiting  a  constellation-like 
arrangement. 

Second  type. — Cups  surrounded  hy  a  single  ring. — The  incised  rings  are 
usually  much  shallower  than  the  cups,  and  mostly  surround  cups  of  com- 
paratively large  size.  The  ring  is  either  complete  or  broken,  and  in  the 
latter  case  it  is  often  traversed  by  a  radial  groove  which  runs  from  the  cen- 
tral cup  through  and  even  beyond  the  ring. 

TiiiED  TYPE. — Cups  surrounded  hy  a  series  of  concentric  complete  rings. — 
"In  tliis  complete  annular  form,"  says  Professor  Simpson,  "the  central  cup 
is  generally  more  deeply  cut  than  the  surrounding  rings,  but  not  always." 
The  number  of  rings  varies  from  two  to  seven,  or  even  more. 

Fourth  type. — Cups  surrounded  hy  a  series  of  concentric  hid  incomplete 
rings,  having  a  straight  radial  groove. — This  type.  Professor  Simpson  thinks, 
constitutes,  perhaps,  the  most  connnon  form  of  the  circular  carvings.     The 


EAU.]  TYPES  OF  SCULPTURES.  11 

rings  generally  touch  the  radial  line  at  both  extremities,  but  sometimes  they 
terminate  on  each  side  of  it  without  touching  it.  The  radial  groove  occasion- 
ally extends  considerably  beyond  the  outer  circle,  and  in  most  cases  it  runs  in 
a  more  or  less  downward  direction  on  the  stone  or  rock.  "  Sometimes  it  runs 
on  and  unites  into  a  common  line  with  other  ducts  or  grooves  coming  from 
other  circles,  till  thus  several  series  of  concentric  rings  are  conjoined  into  a 
largei'  or  smaller  cluster  united  together  by  the  extension  of  their  radial 
branch-like  grooves."  This  type  usually  exhibits  from  three  to  six  rings, 
the  outermost  having  a  diameter  of  from  ten  to  sixteen  inches.  But  the 
author  measured  one  specimen  at  Auchnabreach,  Argyleshire,  Scotland, 
three  feet  in  diameter  and  composed  of  eight  circles. 

Fifth  type. — Cups  surrounded  hy  concentric  rings  and  flexed  lines. — "The 
number  of  inclosing  or  concentric  rings  is  generally  fewer  in  this  type 
than  in  the  two  last  preceding  types,  and  seldom  exceeds  two  or  three  in 
number." 

Sixth  type. — Concentric  rings  tvifJiout  a  central  cup. — In  a  compara- 
tively limited  number  of  cases  the  concentric  rings  of  the  t3'pes  already 
described  appear  without  a  central  cup  or  depression,  which  is,  however, 
most  frequently  wanting  in  the  complete  concentric  circles  of  the  third  type. 

Seventh  type. — Concentric  circidar  lines  of  the  form  of  a  spiral  or 
volute. — The  central  beginning  of  the  spiral  line  is  usually,  but  not  always, 
marked  by  a  cup-like  excavation.  "The  volute  or  spiral  is,  perhaps,  the 
rarest  of  the  forms  of  circular  ring-cuttings  in  Great  Britain ;  but  this  typo 
seems  common  on  the  incised  stones  of  Ireland  and  Brittany." 

It  often  occurs  that  two,  three,  or  more  of  these  various  types  are  found 
on  the  same  stone  or  rock,  a  fact  proving,  to  use  Professor  Simpson's  lan- 
guage, "that  they  are  intimately  allied  to  each  other,  belong  to  the  same 
arcliaic  school  of  art,  and  have  a  community  of  character  and  origin." 

In  Plate  II  of  his  work  Professor  Simpson  represents  wliat  he  calls  "the 
cliief  deviations  from  the  principal  types."  I  reproduce  here  this  plate  as 
Fig.  2  without  further  comment,  drawing  only  attention  to  the  first  four 
designs,  which  represent  cups  connected  by  grooves.  This  is  a  noticeable 
and  frequently  occurring  feature,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter.  In  order  to  show 
the  co-existence  of  different  types  on  the  same  stone  surface,  and  the  manner 


12  cur  SHAPED  AND  OTHEE  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

in  which  they  are  grouped,  I  give  in  Fig.  3  (copied  from  Plate  XXIII 
of  Simpson's  work)  views  of  sculptured  rock-surfaces  at  Auchnabreach, 
Argyleshire,  Scotland.  Simple  cups,  cups  surrounded  by  one  ring  or  by 
concentric  rings  with  radial  grooves,  and  spirals,  appear  here  promiscuously 
mingled.  Fig.  4,  taken  from  Simpson's  work  (Plate  XVII,  3),  exhibits 
isolated  as  well  as  connected  cups,  a  cup  surrounded  by  a  ring,  and  con- 
centric rings  with  radial  grooves,  on  a  standing  stone  (menhir)  belonging  to 
a  group  of  seven  at  Ballymenach,  in  the  parish  of  Kilmichael-Glassary,  in 
Argyleshire,  Scotland. 

In  the  many  examples  of  rock-sculpture  mentioned  and  illustrated  by 
designs  by  Professor  Simpson,  groups  of  simple  cups  appear  not  veiy  fre- 
quently as  the  only  markings  on  a  stone-surface;  in  most  cases,  as  exemplified 
by  Figures  3  and  4,  they  are  accompanieci  with  cups  surrounded  by  rings 
or  associated  with  other  figures  of  a  more  or  less  complex  character.  But 
in  view  of  the  occurrence  of  simple  cups  on  stones  and  rocks  in  North 
America,  I  will,  for  the  present,  direct  my  attention  to  corresponding  sculp- 
tures in  the  Old  World,  and  briefly  enumerate  the  stones  noticed  by  the 
Scottish  savant  on  which  the  cup-like  cavities  appear  unmixed  with  other 
figures,  excepting  the  before-mentioned  grooves  by  which  they  are  now  and 
then  connected.  These  simple  carvings,  it  will  be  seen,  mostly  occur  on 
stones  of  megalithic  monuments. 

1. — Prop-stone  of  a  dolmen  at  Lancresse,  in  the  Island  of  Guernsey. 
It  shows  eleven  cups  of  from  three  to  four  inches  diameter,  arranged  in  a 
row  close  to  one  of  the  edges  of  the  stone  and  following  its  curvature 
(Simpson,  Plate  VIII,  a). 

2. — Cap-stone  of  a  dolmen  in  the  vicinity  of  the  village  of  Ratho, 
in  Edinburghshire,  Scotland.  On  its  upper  surface  is  sculptured  a  row  of 
twenty  cups,  which  runs  in  a  straight  median  line  from  one  end  of  the  stone 
to  the  other.  In  addition,  there  is  a  cup  placed  on  either  side  of  the  central 
row.  The  largest  cups  measure  about  three  inches  in  diameter,  and  are 
half  an  inch  deep.  The  cap-stone  is  a  block  of  secondary  basalt,  or  whin- 
stone,  about  twelve  feet  long,  ten  in  breadth,  and  two  in  thickness  (Simpson, 
Plate  IX,  1). 

3. — Cap-stone  of  a  dolmen  near  the  village  of  Clynnog  Fawr,  in  Caer- 


RAU.i  SCOTLAND,  ETC.  13 

narvonshire,  Wales.  Its  upper  surface  is  covered  witli  a  large  number  of 
cups  running  in  oblique,  but  almost  parallel,  lines.  Two  long  grooves,  form- 
ing an  acute  angle,  connect  a  number  of  the  cups  (Simpson,  Plate  IX,  2). 
This  dolmen  is  represented  as  Fig.  3  on  Plate  III  of  Desor's  "  Pierres  {\ 
Ecuelles,"  but  erroneously  marked  Dolmen  cle  Batho.  I  repi'oduce  Professor 
Simpson's  view  of  the  dolmen  as  Fig.  5. 

4. — Large  stone  which  formerly  occupied  the  centre  of  a  still  complete 
stone  circle  at  Moncrieff,  a  few  miles  south  of  Pei'th,  Scotland.*  It  has 
carved  upon  its  surface  about  seventeen  irregvilarly-distributed  cups  of 
different  sizes  (Simpson,  Plate  IV,  2). 

5. — Block  of  a  small  circle  surrounding  a  kistvaen,  or  stone  cist,  at  Oat- 
lands,  in  the  Isle  of  Man.  The  design  shows  in  one  corner  of  the  block 
eighteen  cup-markings,  which  form  five  irregular  rows  (^mpson,  Plate 
VIII,  1).     Fig.-  6  of  this  publication. 

6. — One  of  the  roofing-stones  in  the  chamber  of  the  large  elongated 
tumulus,  Mont  Saint-Michel,  at  Carnac,  Brittany.  It  shows  on  the  inner 
side  six  apparently  large  cups,  placed  without,  special  order  (Simpson,  Plato 
XI,  6). 

7. — Two  stones  in  chambered  tumuli  at  Clava,  in  Inverness-shire,  Scot- 
land. Upon  the  surface  of  one  of  them  are  seen  twelve  cups,  apparently 
of  equal  size ;  the  other  stone  shows  five  of  them,  which  are  placed  in  the 
shape  of  an  in-egular  cross  (Simpson,  Plate  X,  3  and  4).  Fig.  7  represents 
the  first-mentioned  of  these  stones. 

8  — Stone  probably  belonging  to  a  chamber  within  a  stone  circle  on 
Cloughton  Moor,  near  Scarboi-ough,  England.  One  side  shows  four  cups, 
the  other  three  (Simpson,  Plate  XI,  4). 

9. — Monolith  standing  near  Dunbar,  East-Lothian,  Scotland.  Upon 
one  of  its  sides  appear  five  cups,  so  placed  that  they  might  mark  the  angles 
of  an  irregular  pentagon  (Simpson,  Plate  IV,  3).     Reproduced  as  Fig.  8. 

10. — Conical  standing  stone  in  the  bourg  or  village  of  the  Forest,  in 
the  Island  of  Guernsey.  There  are  upon  it  three  apparently  large  cups, 
forming  a  I'ow  in  the  longitudinal  direction  of  the  stone,  but  placed  far 
apart  (Simpson,  Plate  VIII,  2). 

•  The  size  of  the  objects  figured  iu  Simpson's  worlt  is  rarely  indicated. 


14  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHEE  LAPIDAPtTAN  SCULPTURES. 

11. — Standing  stone,  nearly  ten  feet  liigli,  in  tlie  neighborhood  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  it  is  known  as  the  "Caiy  Stone."  Between  two  and  three 
feet  from  the  ground  is  sculptured  on  one  of  its  sides  a  horizontal  row  of 
six  cups,  placed  closely  together  (Simpson,  Plate  XVII,  1).  A  view  of  this 
stone,  differing  from  Simpson's  representation,  is  given  by  Professor  Daniel 
Wilson. "•*^ 

12. — Isolated  stone  near  Balvraid,  in  Inverness-shire,  Scotland.  It 
measures  above  six  feet  in  length,  and  is  covered  with  many  cujis,  five  paii's 
of  which  are  joined  by  straight  or  curved  grooves  (Simpson,  Plate  XIV,  '2). 
Reproduced  as  Fig.  9. 

13. — Stone  found  among  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  fortification  at  Laws, 
in  Forfarshire,  Scotland.  The  stone  shows  sixteen  cups,  which  form  an 
irregular  oval  group  (Simpson,  Plate  Xll,  5).     Fig.  10  in  this  publication. 

14. — Rock  lying  in  a  wood  behind  the  church-yard  of  Kii-k  Braddan, 
in  the  Isle  of  Man.  On  one  side  eight  cups  are  distributed  without  order; 
on  the  other  an  equal  number  is  recognizable,  and  here  two  pairs  are  con- 
joined by  straight  grooves  (Simpson,  Plate  XXVI,  4). 

15. — The  Baal  or  Balder  Stone,  near  Falkoping,  Sweden  (Simpson, 
Plate  XXXI,  1).  It  will  be  described  and  figured  in  my  notice  of  Swedish 
cup-stones. 

Professor  Simpson  represents  in  all  about  a  hundred  stones  upon  which 
figures  are  sculptured,  and  my  enumeration  shows  that  among  these  only 
sixteen  bear  exclusively  cup-shaped  cavities,  which  are  in  some  instances 
conjoined  by  grooves.  I  have  to  mention,  however,  that  he  also  alludes  in 
his  work  to  a  number  of  simple  cup-cuttings  which  he  does  not  figure.  I 
presented  the  preceding  summary  simply  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that 
cups  unaccompanied  by  other  figures  are  not  very  frequently  met  with 
on  stones  in  Scotland,  England,  and  the  smaller  islands  belonging  to  Great 
Britain. 

*  Wilson :  The  Archaeology  and  Prehistoric  Annals  of  Scotland ;  Edinburgh,  1651,  p.  96. 


EAU.]  SCOTLAND,  ETC.— ENGLAND.  15 


ENGLAND. 

An  important  publication  relating  to  English  rock-sculpture  of  the 
peculiar  kind  here  examined  is  that  by  Mr.  George  Tate,  entitled  "The 
Ancient  British  Sculptured  Eocks  of  Northumberland  and  the  Eastern  Bor- 
ders" (Alnwick,  186.5).*  While  Professor  Simpson  chiefly  treats  of  Scot- 
tish sculptures,  yet  draws  also  those  of  other  countries  within  the  sphere  of 
his  observations,  Mr.  Tate's  work,  as  its  title  indicates,  is  mainly  devoted  to 
a  narrower  district  in  the  North  of  England. 

The  rock-sculptures  of  Northumberland  described  by  Mi-.  Tate  are 
almost  absolutely  analogous  to  those  hitherto  considered,  and  appear  to  be 
of  contemporaneous  origin  with  them.  The  well-developed  spiral  line, 
however,  does  not  occur  among  the  English  sculptures  figured  by  Mr.  Tate. 
For  the  rest,  we  behold  here  the  same  rings  with  central  cups  and  radial 
grooves,  etc.,  which  form  most  curious  and  complicated  groups,  and  are 
frequently  accompanied  by  simple  cups.  Yet,  in  none  of  the  illustrations 
published  by  the  author  do  they  constitute  the  sole  sculptures  of  a  rock- 
surface.  The  general  results  of  Mr.  Tate's  investigations  in  Northumber- 
land are  summed  up  in  the  following  resume  on  page  27  of  his  treatise: — 

"From  this  survey  we  find  that  fifty-three  sculptured  stones  have  been 
observed  in  Northumberland,  and  that  there  are  inscribed  on  them  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  figures.  All  of  them  are  more  or  less  connected 
with  ancient  British  remains.  Four  of  them  formed  the  covers  of  cists; 
four  were  probably  covers  of  cists ;  two  are  within  a  few  yards  of  baiTows, 
beneath  which  are  similar  small  sepulchral  chambers ;  five  of  them  are 
within  ancient  British  camps ;  eight  of  them  are  not  more  distant  from  such 
camps  than  a  hundred  yards,  most  of  the  others  are  less  distant  than  half  a 
mile,  and  none  further  away  than  a  mile.  Their  relation,  however,  to  the 
camps,  forts,  and  hut-circles — the  dwellings  of  the  ancient  British  people — 
is  more  apparent  than  to  their  sepulchres." 

To  this  I  will  add  that  the'  sculptures  observed  by  Mr.  Tate  within  or 

•  Tlie  illustrated  work  on  incised  markings  on  stone  in  Northumberland,  etc.,  publislied  in  1669  by 
direction  of  the  late  Duke  of  Northumberland,  was  not  within  my  reach. 


IG  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

in  the  neighborhood  of  camps  and  fortifications  are  mostly  executed  on 
sandstone  rock  in  situ. 

I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  again  to  Mr.  Tate's  interesting  monograph. 

Of  2)articular  interest  is  a  class  of  small  English  cup-stones,  which 
the  Rev.  William  Grreenwell  found  in  no  inconsiderable  number  during  his 
extensive  exploration  of  English  barrows.  He  refers  to  them  repeatedly, 
but  with  special  minuteness  in  his  account  of  a  barrow  in  the  parish  of 
Kilburn,  in  Yorkshire.  This  barrow,  which  measured  forty-two  feet  in 
diameter,  was  no  longer  in  its  original  state,  having  been  much  disturbed 
in  recent  times  for  the  sake  of  the  stones  which  formed  it.  No  traces  of 
any  interment  remained,  a  fact  ascribed  by  Mr.  Greenwell  to  the  total  dis- 
appearance of  the  bones  by  decay.  According  to  his  opinion,  a  burned  body 
had  never  been  interred  in  this  mound,  for  in  that  case  some  fragments  of 
calcined  bones  would  have  come  to  light.  On  the  east  side  of  the  barrow 
was  fovind  a  stone  with  two  grooves  running  crosswise,  and  probably  pro- 
duced by  the  sharpening  of  some  stone  implement. 

"A  remarkable  feature  in  this  barrow,"  Mr.  Greenwell  continues,  "was 
the  very  large  number  of  stones  (more  than  twenty)  of  various  sizes,  from 
five  inches  to  eighteen  inches  square,  and  of  difi"erent  and  irregular  shapes, 
on  which  pit  or  cup-markings  had  been  formed.  These  hollows  were  both 
circular  and  oval,  and  differed  in  size  from  one  inch  in  diameter  to  three 
inches,  and  their  depth  was  about  two  inches.  The  oval  pits,  as  a  rule, 
were  not  very  regular  in  outline.  Some  of  the  stones  had  only  one  pit- 
marking  upon  them,  others  had  as  many  as  six;  on  some  they  were  quite 
separate  from  each  other,  on  others  they  were  connected  by  a  shallow  but 
wide  groove.  They  were  all  formed  in  a  soft  and  very  light  oolitic  sand- 
stone, and  the  pits  were  in  most  cases  as  fresh  as  if  only  made  yesterday, 
showing  most  distinctly  the  marks  of  the  tool,  which  appeared  to  have  been 
a  sharp-pointed  instrument,  and  very  probably  of  flint.  It  is  not  easy  to 
attribute  any  special  purpose  to  these  stones  or  to  their  markings.  The 
condition  of  the  pits,  showing  no  signs  of  wear  (for  had  anything  been 
ground  or  rubbed  in  them,  the  marks  of  the  tooling  upon  so  soft  a  stone 
would  have  been  speedily  effaced),  seems  to  preclude  the  idea  that  they 
were  intended  for  any  domestic  or  manufacturing  process.     On  the  whole. 


RAu.i  ENGLAKD- IRELAND.  17 

I  prefei-  to  regard  them  as  symbolic  representations,  though  as  to  what  their 
significancy  may  be,  I  confess  myself  unable  to  offer  anything  more  than 
conjecture."  He  then  draws  attention  to  their  resemblance  "to  the  sim- 
ilarly-shaped pits  which,  found  sometimes  alone  and  sometimes  in  connection 
with  incomplete  circles,  have  been  discovered  so  extensively  in  Northum- 
berland, Yorkshire,  Argyleshire,  Kerry,  and  other  parts  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  occurring  in  many  cases  upon  rocks,  but  very  frequently  upon 
detached  stones  of  greater  or  less  size ."*  In  general,  Mr.  Greenwell  met 
with  such  cup-stones  in  barrows  containing  burned  human  remains.  He 
lays  particular  stress  on  the  freshness  of  their  cavities,  and  the  latter  cir- 
cumstance— if,  indeed,  these  cup-stones  were  designed  for  any  practical 
purpose — renders  the  solution  of  the  question  of  their  use  extremely  diffi- 
cult, or  perhaps  impossible. 


IRELAND. 

Sculptures  analogous  to  those  hitherto  considered  have  been  discovered 
in  Ireland,  more  especially,  as  it  appeai-s,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  king- 
dom. A  large  stone  slab,  found  in  the  County  of  Kerry,  and  figured  by 
Professor  Simpson  on  Plate  XXVII,  shows  on  its  surface  single  cups  as 
well  as  others  surrounded  by  circles,  the  latter  being  in  part  traversed  and 
connected  by  grooves.  Mr.  Tate  likewise  mentions  similar  Irish  sculptures, 
and  represents  on  Plate  XI  (Fig.  8)  a  stone  found  in  the  above-named 
county  underneath  several  feet  of  peat.  In  lieu  of  a  description  of  this 
stone,  I  present  in  Fig.  11a  copy  of  Mr.  Tate's  design  of  the  same. 

These  simpler  sculptures  are  often  associated  in  Ireland  with  other 
devices,  such  as  stars,  rosettes,  crosses,  triangles,  zigzags,  etc.,  which,  as 
far  as  I  know,  have  not  been  observed  in  Great  Britain.  Such  an  assem- 
blage of  figures  is  exhibited  on  the  side-surface  of  a  block  fashioned  as  a 
rude  seat,  and  belonging  to  the  stone  circle  which  surrounds  a  large  cairn 
at  Lough  Crew,  near  Oldcastle,  Leinster.     This  block,  of  more  than  ten 

*  Greenwell  and  EoUeston :  British  Barrows,  etc. ;  Oxford,  1877,  p.  341,  etc. 
2  L  S 


18  cur  SHAPED  AND  OTHEU  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

tons  weight,  and  known  as  "the  Hag's  Chair,"  has  been  described  and 
figured  by  Mr.  James  Fergusson.*  Many  of  the  stones  forming  the  cham- 
ber of  the  tumulus  at  Lough  Crew  are  likewise  ornamented  with  various 
devices,  as  seen  in  the  representations  of  two  of  them  given  by  Mr.  Fer- 
gusson t  I  present  as  Fig.  12  a  copy  of  one  of  his  designs.  The  sculpture 
on  this  stone  is  even  more  characteristic  than  that  on  the  Hag's  Chair. 

Of  a  still  more  artistic  character  are  the  sculptures  on  the  stones  in  the 
celebrated  cairns  of  New  Grange  and  Dowth,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Drogheda.  Here  are  seen  graceful  groups  of  double  spirals,  scrolls,  math- 
ematical devices,  and  even  designs  resembling  palm  or  fern-like  plants — 
in  general  forms  evidently  belonging^to  a  later  period  than  the  cup  and 
ring-cuttings  previously  treated.  Mr.  Fergusson  takes  occasion  to  draw 
attention  to  the  progressive  development  shown  in  Irish  sculpture.}: 


FEANCE. 

The  dolmen-stones  of  Brittany  likewise  exhibit  sculptures  far  superior 
in  design  to  those  of  Scotland  and  England,  and  doubtless  belonging  to  a 
more  advanced  stage  of  primitive  art.  Though  we  behold  here  curious 
concentric  circles  and  spiral  lines,  which  bear  a  distant  resemblance  to  the 
sculptures  of  Great  Britain,  we  also  meet  with  real  ornaments,  snake-like 
designs,  and  representations  of  liafted  and  unhafted  celts.  Some  of  the 
sculptures  of  Brittany  are  raised  and  not  incised.  A  very  characteristic 
outline  of  a  celt  in  a  plumed  handle  is  seen  on  the  roof  of  a  dolmen  called 
"the  Merchant's  Table,''  near  Locmariaker.     It  is  here  reproduced  as  Fig.  13. 

The  tumulus  on  the  Island  of  Gavr'  Inis,  in  the  Bay  of  Morbihan,  a 

*  Fergusson  :  Rude  Stone  Monuments  in  all  Countries ;  London,  1872,  p.  215. 

tibid.,  p.  210. 

}  Ibid.,  p.  222.  In  addition,  however,  he  says  on  the  same  page :  "  It  would  be  an  extremely  dan- 
gerous line  of  argument  to  apply  this  law  of  progressive  development  to  all  countries.  In  India, 
especially,  it  is  very  frequently  reversed.  The  rudest  art  is  often  much  more  modern  than  the  most 
refined,  but  in  Ireland  this  apparently  never  was  the  case.  From  the  earliest  scratchings  on  pillar- 
stones  down  to  the  English  conquest  her  art  seems  to  have  been  unfalteringly  progressive." 

Illustrations  of  the  sculptures  of  New  Grange  and  Dowth  are  given  by  Simpson  and  Fergusson  in 
their  works  here  quoted. 


RAT7.1  lEELAND— FEANCE.  19 

few  miles  east  of  Locinariaker,  is  of  great  interest  to  archaeologists,  on 
account  of  the  sculptured  stones  forming  its  chamber,  upon  which  groups 
of  intricate  concentric  and  spiral  lines,  and  outlines  of  objects  generally 
considered  as  celts  are  traced.  These  stones  have  repeatedly  been  repre- 
sented.    Fig.  14  is  a  copy  of  one  of  Mr.  Fergusson's  illustrations. 

Yet,  the  fact  that  cup-cuttings  are  not  wanting  in  this  part  of  France 
is  exemplified  by  the  roofing-stone  of  Mont  Saint-Michel,  at  Carnac,  which 
has  been  alluded  to  on  a  preceding  page.  The  Rev.  W.  C.  Lukis, 
moreover,  communicated  to  Mr.  E.  T.  Stevens  that  he  had  found  in  twelve 
cases  cup-cuttings  on  dolmen-stones  of  Brittany  (mostl}^  upon  cap-stones), 
and  in  one  case  on  a  slab  near  the  entrance  of  a  galleried  chamber.  He 
farther  observed  them  twice  on  menhirs,  once  on  a  rock  in  situ,  and  again 
on  a  loose  stone  block,  all  in  the  same  region.*  It  is  not  mentioned 
•whether  these  cups  occur  alone  or,  as  is  more  probable,  accompanied  by 
other  figures. 

I  am  not  aware  that  elaborate  sculptures  similar  to  those  of  Brittany 
have  been  discovered  in  the  southern  j^arts  of  France.  Simple  cup-cuttings, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  not  wanting  there,  and  more  of  them  doubtless  will 
become  known  in  the  course  of  further  investigation.  Professor  Desor 
draws  in  his  pamphlet  attention  to  the  report  of  Messrs.  Piette  and  Sacaze, 
who  lately  examined  in  the  neighborhood  of  Luchon,  in  the  Pyrenees,  a 
large  number  of  megalithic  monuments,  one  of  which,  called  Lc  Cailhaou 
des  Pourics  (the  chicken-stone),  has  sculptured  on  its  surface  sixty-two  cups, 
from  five  to  six  centimeters  in  diameter  and  from  two  to  three  centimeters  in 
depth.  Four  cups  in  the  middle  of  the  stone  are  conjoined  by  grooves  in 
such  a  manner  that  they  form  a  cross.f  Elsewhere  in  his  pamphlet  (page 
21)  Professor  Desor  observes  that  thus  far  cup-stones  have  not  been 
noticed  in  the  East  of  France,  notwithstanding  the  abundance  of  erratic 
blocks  in  that  region.  Shortly  afterward,  however,  M.  A.  Falsan  described 
two  cup-stones  which  he  had  discovered  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone.  One 
of  them,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Belley,  in  the  Department  of  the  Ain, 
deserves  particular  mention.     It  is  a  sandstone  boulder 'of  oval  shape,  a 

•  Stevens :  Flint  Chips ;   Limdou,  1870,  p.  490. 

t  Piette  et  Sacaze:  Les  Monuments  dela  Montague  d'E8piaup  (Pyreu<5es) ;  Matciiaiix,  1878,  p.  246. 


20      CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAX  SCULPTURES. 

meter  and  a  half  long  and  sixty  centimeters  in  thickness,  having  sculptured 
on  its  upper  surface  about  sixty  round  cups,  distributed  in  irregular  groups, 
and  in  some  instances  conjoined  by  grooves,  which,  to  judge  from  the  very 
good  accompanying  illustration,  here  reproduced  as  Fig.  15,  are  much  shal- 
lower than  the  cavities.  The  largest  cup  measures  eight  centimeters  in 
diameter;  the  others  are-smaller,  and  their  depth  varies  between  a  few  mil- 
limeters and  three  centimeters.  The  people  of  the  neighborhood  call  this 
block  La  Boule  de  Gargantiia,  attaching  to  it  the  legend  that  it  was  hurled 
from  a  distance  to  its  present  place  by  the  giant  of  that  name,  the  impi-es- 
sions  of  his  fingers  being  the  very  cups  seen  on  its  surface. 

M.  Falsan  alludes  to  the  existence  of  other  yet  unexamined  cup-stones 
in  that  region,  and  a  further  search  probably  will  amply  reward  the  investi- 
gator.* 

Quite  recently  M.  Louis  de  Malafosse  has  pointed  out  the  occurrence  of 
cup-cuttings  on  rocks  in  the  Lozfere  Department,  mentioning  in  particular  a 
schistose  rock  in  situ  near  the  rivulet  Rioulong,  not  far  from  a  place  called 
Chirac.  A  cornice-like  projection  of  this  rock  shows  about  forty  cups, 
apparently  grouped  without  order,  and  in  some  instances  connected  by 
grooves,  as  indicated  in  Fig.  16,  which  is  a  copy  of  M.  de  Malafosse's 
illustration.  The  grooves  are  shallower  than  the  cups,  the  latter  being  from 
three  to  four  centimeters  in  diameter  and  from  three  and  a  half  to  four 
centimeters  deep.  The  cup  mai'ked  A  is  larger  than  the  others.  These 
cavities  are  conical  in  shape  and  some  terminate  in  a  flat  bottom.  M.  de 
Malafosse  thinks  that,  though  the  rock  is  very  hard,  the  cavities  might  have 
been  produced  by  the  rotation  of  a  flint  implement.f 

Additional  discoveries  of  cup-stones  in  different  parts  of  France  may 
be  confidently  expected. 

*Falsau:  De  la  PrtSsence  de  qiielques  Pierres  5.  ficuelles  dans  la  R<?gion  Moyenne  du  Bassin  dii 
Rhdr.e;  Mat^riaux,  1878,  p.  280. 

tDe  Malafosse :  Les  PieiTes  k  Bassins  et  les  Eochers  5,  ficuelles  dans  la  Loziire ;  Matdiiaux,  1879, 
p.  97. 


KAU.i  FEANCE— SWITZERLAND.  21 


SWITZERLAND. 

In  this  country  erratic  blocks  bearing  cup-cuttings  are  not  rare.  Accord- 
ing to  Professor  Desor,  about  fifty  were  known  some  yeai's  ago,  twenty  of 
them  having  been  found  in  the  French  cantons  of  the  repubHc;  and  owing 
to  the  closer  search  on  the  part  of  geologists  and  archaeologists  their  num- 
ber steadily  increases  by  new  discoveries. 

He  figures  on  Plate  I  of  his  pamphlet  the  cup-stone  observed  as  early  as 
1849  by  Professor  F.  Troyon  at  the  foot  of  the  Jura,  near  Mont-la- Ville,  in 
the  Canton  of  Vaud,  and  then  and  afterward  described  by  him.*  This  block 
consists  of  chlorite  slate,  is  ten  feet  and  a  half  long,  and  from  four  to  five 
feet  in  breadth.  Its  surface  exhibits  twenty-seven  irregularly-distributed 
cups,  of  which  the  largest  measures  nine  inches  in  diameter  and  four  inches 
and  a  half  in  depth;  the  others  are  considerably  smaller.  Some  of  the  cups 
foi'ming  the  central  group  are  connected  by  undulating  furrows  of  insignifi- 
cant depth,  and  a  short  straight  groove  conjoins  two  cups  near  the  upper 
end  of  the  rock.     I  give  Professor  Desor's  illustration  as  Fig.  1 7. 

Dr.  Ferdinand  Keller  has  described  the  cup-stones  of  Switzerland  in  a 
memoir  which  is  not  within  my  reach.f  In  J.  E.  Lee's  translation  of  Dr. 
Keller's  reports  on  the  lake- dwellings  of  Switzerland  I  find  the  description 
and  representation  of  a  block  in  the  Luterhok  near  Bienne,  in  the  Can- 
ton of  Berne,  which  shows  twenty-one  cups,  arranged  without  apparent 
order,  and  partly  connected  by  grooves.  The  block  weighs  about  twenty 
hundred-weight,  and  consists  of  gneiss. J  Professor  Desor  refers  (on  page 
14)  to  the  discovery  of  similar  blocks  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bienne,  with- 
out describing  them  in  detail ;  he  also  alludes  to  several  cup-stones  in  the 
environs  of  Zurich. 

Cup-cuttings  appear  to  occur  in  Switzerland  mostly  on  boulders  of 
granite  and  gneiss,  and,  as  a  rule,  unassociated  with  other  sculptured  figures. 

*  Troyon :  Habitations  Lacustres  des  Temps  Anciens  et  Modernes ;  Laus.anne,  1860,  p.  158,  note. 

t  Die  Zeichen-oder  Schalensteine  der  Schweiz,  in :  "  Mittheilungcn  der  Antiquarisclien  Geaellsohaft 
in  Zurich,"  Bd.  XVII. 

t Keller:  Tlie  Lake-Dvrelliuga  of  Switzerland  and  other  Parts  of  Europe;  translated  by  J.  E. 
Lee;  London,  1876,  Vol.  I.,  p  460;  Vol.  II,  Plate XXXIX,  14.  In  the  description  eighteen  cups  are  men- 
tioned ;  the  figiuo  shows  twenty-one. 


22  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

Yet,  according-  to  Professor  Desor  (page  12),  a  rock  exhibiting  a  number  of 
simple  cups  and  one  cup  surrounded  by  two  circles  was  formerly  seen  near 
the  village  of  Mels,  in  the  Canton  of  Saint  Gall.  Unfortunately,  this  rock 
has  been  destroyed.  This  isolated  case,  however,  is  in  so  far  of  interest, 
as  it  exemplifies  the  transition  from  the  simpler  and  earlier  cup-type  to  a 
somewhat  more  developed  form. 

Dr.  Keller  states  that  smaller  cupped  stones  have  been  found  in  the 
Lake  of  Neuchatel,  at  Corcelettes,  at  Font,  above  Estavayer,  and  at  the 
lake-dwelling  of  Cortaillod,  just  opposite  the  shore,  almost  always  in  places 
which  are  dry  at  low  water. 

"The  implements  met  with  in  the  neighborhood  of  these  hollow  stones," 
he  continues,  "belong  in  general  to  the  bronze  age.  The  cups  vary  from 
three  to  ten  inches  in  diameter;  they  are  seldom  more  than  an  inch  in  depth. 
They  are  made  on  the  surface  of  the  stone  without  any  kind  of  order,  ex- 
cept that  when  they  are  tlii'ee  in  number,  they  form,  as  it  were,  the  points 
of  an  equilateral  triangle."*  Though  he  alludes  on  the  same  page  to  a 
relation  between  these  stones  and  the  large  cup-bearing  boulders  of  Switz- 
erland, he  seems  to  have  afterward  changed  his  view,  and  to  regard  the 
former  as  utensils  designed  for  some  domestic  purpose,  perhaps  for  grinding 
cereals  or  other  substances  (Desor,  page  8).  This  was  Professor  Troyon's 
original  opinion.f 


GERMANY  AND  AUSTRIA. 

As  far  as  I  could  learn,  no  ciip-stones  have  yet  been  discovered  in 
Southern  Germany,  but  it  hardly  admits  of  any  doubt  that  they  will  be 
found  in  that  district,  when  diligent  search  is  made  for  them.  Their  occur- 
rence in  North  Germany,  however,  is  well  established.  Mr.  C.  Jessen 
describes  in  the  "  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologie"  (Vol.  IV,  1872,  p  22-3)  a  real 
cup-stone  discovered  by  him  not  far  from  Eckernforde  (Schleswig),  and  to 

*  Keller:  Lake-Dwellings,  etc.,  Vol.  I,  p.  460.  Figs.  12  and  KS,  on  Plate  XXXIX  of  the  same  work 
represent  two  of  thesecupped  stones,  one  with  three,  the  other  with  four  tavitics;  but  their  size  is  not 
indicated,  either  on  the  jilatc  or  in  the  text. 

t  "D'autres  pierres  portent  de  petits  bassins,  de  2  a  3  pouccs  de  diametre  »ur  r>a  S  lignes  dcpro. 
fondeur,  destines  sans  dou( e  a  broj  cr  des  grains,  niais  dout  I'usage  a  pu  dtre  fort  vari>5." — Troijon  :  Hahi- 
fationa  Lacustres,  etc.,  p.  l.'iS. 


iiAU.i  SWITZERLAISD— GERMANY  AND  AUSTRIA.  2P) 

which  he  atti-ibutes,  doubtless  erroneously,  the  character  of  a  stone  u]wn 
Avhicli  stone  axes  were  ground.  This  block,  which  is  figured  in  the  "Zeit- 
schrif't"  (Plate  XIV),  consists  of  granite,  is  five  feet  long,  half  as  wide,  and 
exhibits  upon  its  surface  twenty-four  cups  of  unequal  size.  Miss  J.  Mestorf, 
the  accomplished  custodian  of  the  Arcligeological  Museum  at  Kiel  (Hol- 
stein),  mentions,  as  the  result  of  her  careful  examination  of  various  records, 
that  sixteen  cup-stones  have  been  found  in  the  duchies  of  Schleswig  and 
liolstein,  of  which  five  only  are  still  known  to  exist,  the  others  being  either 
destroyed  or  no  longer  traceable.  She  refers  to  a  specimen  taken  out  of  a 
garden-wall  in  Schleswig,  and  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Kiel,  upon  which 
four  of  the  cups  are  joined  by  grooves,  thus  presenting  the  shape  of  a  cross. 
Another  specimen  in  the  same  museum,  which  consists  of  white  marble 
and  is  only  7.5  centimeters  in  size,  shows  on  both  sides  a  number  of  dimin- 
utive cups,  resembling  those  seen  on  large  stones  and  rocks.  It  was  found 
in  a  burial-urn  from  a  cemetery  pertaining  to  the  early  age  of  iron,  near 
Altona  (Holstein),  and  is  considered  as  an  amulet.  There  is  further  men- 
tioned a  cupped  stone  near  Albersdorf  (Holstein),  which  formed  one  of  the 
three  lid-stones  of  a  cist  covered  by  a  mound  of  earth,  and  containing  only 
a  fractured  flint  lance-head.  On  the  upper  side  of  the  stone,  which  has  not 
been  removed,  are  sculptured  more  than  a  hundred  cups  and  a  figure  like  a 
wheel  with  four  spokes — a  design  not  uncommon  in  Denmark  and  the  Scan- 
dinavian countries,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel.  Another  stone,  found  in 
a  tunuilus  at  Risby  (Schleswig),  shows  a  curiovxs  system  of  cups  and  con- 
necting grooves,  both  rather  shallow,  to  judge  from  a  representation  by  Dr. 
Henry  Petersen.*  This  relic  is  now  in  the  Museum  of  Copenhagen.  A 
stone  found  in  a  tumulus  near  Arrild  (Schleswig)  had  cups  sculptured  on 
one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  word  Fatur,  in  runic  characters.  This 
remarkable  piece  of  lapidarian  sculpture  was  put  out  of  sight  by  its  last 
owner,  who  used  it  in  building  the  foundation  of  a  barn.  Five  or  six  of 
the  cup-stones  traced  by  Miss  Mestorf  occurred  in  or  in  connection  with 
burial-places.f 

*  In:  Mdmoires  de  la  Soci^t6  Eoyale  des  Antiquaires  du  Nord,  1877,  p.  33.5. 

tJ.  Mestorf:  Ueber  Schalenstcinc.  I.,  iu:  Correspoudenz-BIatt  dor  Deulsclicii  Anihropologischcn 
Gesellsfhaft,  1879,  S.  3:— Worsaae:  Die  Vorgcscliiclitc  des  Nordeiis  iiacli  ;i;l,.ii.l,zi.iii^'cii  Deiikiuiiluni ; 
ill's  Deutselie  iibertiageu  vou  J.  Mestorf;  Hamburg,  1878,  S.  41. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  been  favored  with  a  letter  fiom  Miss  Mestorf,  dated  April  3, 


24  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAJ^^  SCULPTURES. 

According  to  Mr.  Friedel,  cup-cuttiugs  occur  on  megalithic  monuments 
in  the  Island  of  Riigen,  situated  in  the  Baltic  Sea,  opposite  Stralsund,  Prus- 
sia, and  on  rocks  in  different  parts  of  Silesia.  He  i-efers  to  a  rock  called 
the  Bischofs-Stein  (Bishop's  Stone),  at  or  near  Niemegk,  in  the  Province  of 
Brandenburg,  Prussia,  upon  which  are  sculptured,  on  one  side  a  Maltese 
cross  and  the  date  1590,  and  on  the  other  a  chalice,  a  cross,  and  several 
cups,  while  its  top  shows  a  trough-shaped  cavity.*  The  communications 
of  that  gentleman  relative  to  the  cup-like  cavities  executed  on  the  walls  of 
many  churches  in  Germany  and  Sweden,  and  thus  bearing  witness  to  the 
practice  of  cup-cutting  within  comparatively  recent  times,  are  of  great  in- 
terest.! But  as  I  shall  revert  to  this  subject  in  another  section  of  this  essay, 
I  refrain  from  enlarging  on  it  in  this  place. 

Though  of  late  years  much  has  been  said  in  Germany  concerning 
cupped  stones,  it  appears  that  two  of  them,  long  ago  briefly  described  and 
figured  by  Samuel  Christoph  Wagener,  have  recently  escaped  the  notice  of 
German  archaeologists.  One  of  them  is  thus  mentioned  by  Wagener  among 
the  antiquities  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ober-Farrenstiidt,  near  Querfurt,  in 
Prussian  Saxony  :  "There  was  also  found  in  this  district  the  memorial  stone. 
Fig.  895,  with  many  drill-holes"  {Audi  f and  sich  in  hiesiger  Gegend  der  Benh- 
stein,  Fig.  895,  mit  vielen  Bohrlocliern).X  The  illustration,  a  very  rude  out- 
line sketch,  of  which  Fig.  18  is  a  fac-simile,  evidently  represents  a  cup-stone. 
The  size  of  the  stone  is  not  indicated.  The  other  cupped  stone,  represented 
in  an  equally  rude  manner  by  Fig.  1367  in  Wagener's  work,  is  a  granite 
block  near  Zadel,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Meissen,  Saxony.  The  people  of 
the  neighborhood  call  it  Biesenstein  or  Giant  Stone.  It  is  six  feet  high  and 
seven  feet  broad,  and  marked  with  many  cup-excavations,  of  which  the 
upper  ones,  placed  in  rows,  are  oval,  three  inches  long,  from  one  inch  to  an 
inch  and  a  half  wide,  and  from  a  fourth  of  an  inch  to  half  an  inch  in  depth. 

1880,  in  -nhich  she  enumerates  the  cup-stones  which  have  become  known  in  the  duchies  of  Schlcswig 
and  Holsteiu  up  to  the  year  1880.  There  are  eighteen  in  all,  of  which  the  last  in  the  list  has  not  yet 
been  described.  It  was  discovered  at  or  near  Bunsoh  (Holstein),  is  conical  in  shape,  sixteen  centimeters 
high,  and  shows  twenty-seven  cups,  three  of  which  are  surrounded  by  single  rings. 

*  As  early  as  1751  mention  is  made  of  cupped  boulders  in  the  Province  of  Brandenl>urg  in  a  his- 
torical work  on  that  province  by  J.  C.  Bekmann.     The  author  calls  them  Xajjfchensteine. 

t  Verhandlungen  der  Berliner  Authropologischen  Gesellschaft ;  Sitzung  vom  10.  Fcbniar  1878, 
S.  23. 

t  Wagener :  Handbuch  der  vorziiglichsteu  in  Deutschland  entdeckten  Alterthiimer  aus  heiduischer 
Zeit ;  Weimar,  1842,  S.  479. 


KATJ]  GERMANY  AND  AUSTRIA— DENMAEK.  25 

The  lower  cups  are  circular,  and  vary  from  two  to  three  inches  and  a  half 
in  diameter.*     Fig.  1 9  is  a  copy  of  Wagener's  sketch  of  this  rock. 

I  was  totally  in  the  dark  as  to  the  occurrence  of  cup-stones  in  Austria 
until  my  esteemed  correspondent,  Dr.  M.  Much,  of  Vienna,  favored  me  with 
a  full  reply  to  a  letter  of  inquiry  addressed  to  him.  Though  cup-stones 
have  thus  far  been  mentioned  only  in  a  transient  manner  in  the  publications 
of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Vienna,  they  are,  nevertheless,  by  no 
•means  uncommon  in  Austria,  more  especially  in  Bohemia  and  in  that  jjai't 
of  the  empire  where  the  three  provinces,  Bohemia,  Moravia,  and  Lower 
Austria  border  upon  each  other.  In  this  district  the  soil  is  often  covered 
with  rounded  granite  blocks,  some  of  which  are  cupped  like  the  boulders 
of  Switzerland  and  Northern  Europe.  The  sketches  of  Bohemian  cup- 
stones  sent  to  me  by  Dr.  Much  show  rather  large  cups,  either  isolated  or  in 
groups,  and  frequently  connected  by  grooves.  "  These  are  only  hasty 
sketches,"  he  says,  "  and,  moreover,  not  based  upon  personal  observation, 
but  conmiunicated  to  me  by  others.  Absolute  correctness  cannot  be  claimed 
for  them.  At  any  rate,  however,  they  prove  the  existence  of  cup-stones  in 
Austria ;  and  I  am  of  opinion  that  they  are  not  at  all  rare  in  Bohemia,  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  Austria,  and  in  Northern  Upper  Austria.  Those 
which  I  have  seen  on  the  Vitusl:)erg  and  Stolzenberg,  both  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Eggenburg,  occurred  in  a  region  characterized  by  prehistoric  set- 
tlements and  places  of  sacrifice ;  yet  I  am  not  prepared  to  state  whether 
these  are  to  be  referred  to  the  age  of  polished  stone  or  to  a  later  pei'iod, 
though  the  latter  appears  to  me  more  probable." 


DENMARK. 

My  statements  relative  to  primitive  lapidarian  sculptures  in  Denmark, 
called  Helleristninger  in  that  country,  are  almost  exclusively  taken  from  an 
article  by  Dr.  Henry  Petersen,  published  in  the  "Memoires"  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Northern  Antiquaries.f 

*  Wagener:  Hamlbuch,  etc.;  S.  755. 

t Petersen:  Notice  sur  les  Pierrcs  Sculptfes  du  Danemark,  in:  Memoires  de  la  Soci6t<5  Koyalo  dcs 
Antiquaires  du  Nord ;  Copenhague,  1877,  p.  330-342. 


26  CUP-SHArED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAK  SCULPTUKES. 

According  to  his  account,  cup-cuttings  are  found  in  most  of  the  Danisli 
islands  (Seeland,  Laaland,  Fiinen,  Langeland,  Bornholm)  and  in  Jiitland. 
"Tlie  stones  upon  which  these  cup-cuttings  occur,"  he  says,  ''are  generally 
largo  erratic  blocks  lying  in  the  midst  of  fields  ;  but  there  is  a  special  inter- 
est attached  to  them  when  they  are  sculptured  on  stones  that  have  served 
in  the  construction  of  sepulchres  of  the  age  of  stone,  namely,  covered  gal- 
leries, oblong  or  round  dolmens,  or,  as  is  often  the  case,  on  the  surface  of 
slabs  forming  the  coverings  of  funeral  chambers.  Their  presence  on  these 
slabs  is  not  in  itself  a  decisive  proof  that  they  were  made  in  the  stone  age, 
for  the  slabs  were  rarely  covered  with  earth,  and  the  figures  may  have  been 
engraved  upon  them  long  afterward,  as  upon  any  stone  found  in  the  fields. 
But  the  motive  which  led  to  the  selection  of  stones  of  dolmens  probably  is 
to  be  sought  in  the  peculiar  protection  these  monuments  afforded,  to  which 
an  almost  sacred  character  was  attributed.  A  more  conclusive  proof,  how- 
ever, that  these  cup-cuttings  reach  as  far  back  as  the  stone  age  is  furnished 
in  the  fact  of  their  presence  upon  the  inner  walls  of  sepulchral  chambers; 
for  it  is  evident  that  they  could  not  have  been  engraved  on  these  stones 
after  their  ajjplication  in  the  construction  of  the  chambers"  (page  3c52).  He 
cites  several  examples  in  support  of  his  view ;  but  he  also  states  that  cup- 
stones  have  been  found  in  Denmark  in  connection  with  burials  of  the  bronze 
age,  mentioning  in  particular  a  tumulus  at  Borreby,  in  the  Southwest  of 
Seeland,  which  inclosed  a  stone  of  considerable  size,  exhibiting  on  its  upper 
convex  surface  from  seventy-five  to  eighty  cup-cuttings.  There  have  been 
found  in  Denmark  several  stones  bearing  runic  inscriptions,  dating  from  the 
ninth  to  the  eleventh  century,  on  which  cups,  in  all  probability  of  earlier 
origin,  are  sculptured.  In  a  few  instances  the  runic  lines  even  traverse  the 
cup-shaped  cavities.  Fig.  20,  copied  from  Dr.  Petersen's  article,  represents 
the  cupped  backside  of  a  runic  stone  at  Ravnkilde,  in  Jutland. 

Some  artificial  foot- tracks,  set  in  pairs,  have  been  observed  in  Denmark: 
in  one  instance  on  a  slab  belonging  to  the  covering  of  a  gallery  in  Seeland ;  in 
another  on  one  of  the  blocks  surrounding  an  oblong  tumulus  in  the  Island 
of  Laaland.  The  first-named  sculptures,  figured  by  the  author  on  \>age 
337,  are  not  unlike  the  well-known  foot-sci;lptures  so  often  seen  on  rocks 


KAUI  DENMARK.  27 

ill  the  United  States.*  Danish  popuhir  legends  refer  to  these  tracks  as  to 
real  impressions  of  human  feet.  Figures  resembling  wheels  with  four  spokes 
have  repeatedly  been  found  in  Denmark  on  isolated  blocks  and  on  stones 
of  megalithic  structures,  and  in  one  case  in  connection  with  cup-cuttings  on 
a  rock  in  the  Island  of  Bornholm.  Dr.  Petersen's  statements  render  it 
probable,  if  not  certain,  that  these  wheel-shaped  sculptures  pertain  to  the 
stone  age  as  well  as  to  that  of  bronze  (page  337). 

Sometimes  they  appear  associated  with  rude  designs  of  ships,  the  crew 
of  which  is  indicated  by  upright  straight  lines.  A  group  of  this  kind  is 
seen  on  the  cap-stone  of  a  funeral  chamber  near  Herrestrup,  in  the  North- 
west of  Seeland.  According  to  Professor  Simpson  (who  quotes  from  Holm- 
berg),  the  chamber  was  entirely  concealed  within  an  earthen  mound  until 
discovered  by  treasure-diggers,  and  hence  there  is  a  strong  probability  that 
the  sculptures  are  coeval  with  the  chamber.  The  latter  contained  some 
urns,  with  tools  and  pieces  of  flint.  The  sculptured  group  consists  of  three 
wheel-shaped  figures  and  three  very  rudely  executed  manned  ships,  together 
with  some  imperfect  linear  markings,  perhaps  not  of  artificial  origin.  The 
figures  are  so  slightly  carved  that  they  become  very  distinct  onlj^  in  a  good 
light.f  I  give  in  Fig.  2  L  a  representation  of  this  structure,  copied  from 
Fergusson's  "Rude  Stone  Monuments"  (Fig.  106  on  page  303).  In  1875, 
Dr.  Petersen  states  (page  33  s),  two  blocks  with  similar  figures  (a  wheel, 
manned  vessels,  and  human  figures  of  the  most  primitive  character)  were 
discovered  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  denuded  chamber.  The  latter  has 
been  thought  by  some  to  have  been  erected  during  the  stone  age ;  but 
Worsaaef  as  well  as  Petersen  incline  to  the  opinion  that  Danish  sculp- 
tures among  which  figures  of  ships  occur,  generally  belong  to  the  age  of 
bronze.  The  last-named  gentleman  takes  occasion  to  draw  special  atten- 
tion to  analogous  designs  of  ships  and  other  figures  engraved  on  Danish 
bronze  knives  (razors"?),  two  of  which  he  represents  on  page  341.§     Mr. 

*  Dr.  Petersen's  illustration  bears  much  analogy  to  Fig.  222  on  page  57  of  my  publication  entitled 
"The  Archajological  Collection  of  the  United  States  National  Museum."  In  both  cases  the  soles  of  tho 
feet  aro  represented  as  beiug  covered. 

tSimpson:  Archaic  Sculptures,  etc.,  p.  72. 

{W^orsaae:  The  Primeval  Antiquities  of  Denmark;  translated  by  W.  J.  Thorns;  London,  184!),  p.  91. 

§  For  reijresentations  of  others  see  Worsaae :  Nordiske  Oldsager  i  det  Kongelige  Museum  i  Kjobcu- 
havn,  Figs.  171-175. 


28         crr-snAPED  and  otuee  lapidarln^s'  sculptukes. 

Fergiisson  is  even  inclined  to  ascribe  to  the  stone  chamber  in  question  a 
still  more  recent  origin.* 

Sculptures  on  rocks  in  situ  are  not  found  in  Denmark,  because,  as  Dr. 
Petersen  states,  rock-formations  suitable  for  their  execution  are,  excepting 
perhaps  the  Island  of  Bornholm,  wanting  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Denmai'k  (page  332). 


SWEDEK 

The  primitive  sculptures  forming  the  subject  of  this  essay  are,  so  far 
as  variety  is  concerned,  perhaps  better  represented  in  the  tenitory  of 
Sweden  than  in  any  other  part  of  Europe.  Simple  cup-cuttings  on  eiTatic 
blocks  are  not  wanting  in  that  countiy:  but  cups  also  occur  there  among 
the  more  elaborate  figures  engi-aved  on  boulders  and  stones  of  megalithic 
sti'uctures  as  well  as  on  natm-al  rock-formations. 

Reference  was  made  on  a  preceding  page  to  the  Baal  or  Balder  Stone, 
at  Ranten,  near  Falkoping,  in  the  Liin  of  Mariestad.  Tliis  block  was  first 
described  by  Professor  Sven  Nilsson,  who  states  that  it  is  a  granite  boulder 
fi-om  six  to  seven  feet  in  length,  oval  in  shape,  and  more  than  three  feet  high. 
On  the  upper  slightly  convex  surface  are  numerous  cup-cuttings  of  unequal 
size,  the  largest  of  which  occupies  nearly  the  centre;  and  a  projection  near 
the  base  of  the  block  exhibits  additional  cup-like  excavations.  Pig.  22  is  a 
copy  of  Professor  Xilsson's  representation  of  the  stone.f  He  is  of  opinion  that 
tliis  block  and  others  of  the  saAe  description  served  as  sacrificial  altars  in 
the  woi-ship  of  Baal  or  Balder,  which,  he  thinks,  was  at  one  time  prevalent 
in  the  North  of  Eui'ope;  and  that  the  cup-shaped  cavities  were  designed  for 
the  reception  of  the  blood  of  the  victims.  This  view  will  be  considered  in 
another  part  of  this  essay.  A  cup-stone  in  the  Liin  of  Halland  is  figured 
in  the  "Mat^riaux"  for  1878  (on  page  268);  another  in  the  "Archiv  fiir 
Anthropologic"  (Vol.  XII,  page  106).     The  latter,  which  was  found  near 

•Fergusson :  Rude  Stone  Monuments,  etc. ;  p.  303. 

tNilsson:  Die  Ureinwohner  de-s  Scandinavischcn  Nordens;  das  Bronzealter;  ans  dem  Schwo- 
dischcn  ubcrsetzt ;  Hamburg,  18t)6 ;  Xachtrag,  S.  45. 


KATJ.i  DENMARK— SWEDEN  29 

Goteborg,  and  is  now  preserved  in  the  Historical  Museum  of  that  city,  is 
apparently  a  boulder,  and  of  small  size,  having  one  side  entirely  covered 
with  cups,  while  there  are  only  three  on  the  opposite  surface.  The  cups  are 
not  over  six  centimeters  in  diameter.  Other  cupped  stones  are  known  to 
exist  in  various  parts  of  Sweden,  where,  indeed,  these  remai'kable  antiqui- 
ties are  so  familiar  to  the  people  that  they  designate  them  by  the  name 
elfstenar,  or  elf-stones,  connecting  with  them  curious  superstitions — either 
descended  from  ancient  times  or  of  later  origin — to  which  allusion  will  be 
made  hereafter. 

Dr.  Petersen  figures  on  ]3age  331  of  his  previously-quoted  article  in 
the  "  M^moires"  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiquaries  two  erratic 
blocks  found  in  the  Province  of  Scania,  upon  Avhich  cups  as  well  as  figures 
resembling  wheels  w^ith  four  spokes  are  sculptured,  and  which  appear  to 
be  of  contemporaneous  origin. 

Professor  Nilsson  represents  in  his  work  on  the  bronze  age  a  heavy 
diorite  slab  from  a  tumulus  in  Scania,  called  Willfarahog.*  This  slab  shows 
the  designs  of  two  horses  drawing  a  two-wheeled  chariot,  and  of  three 
ships,  two  of  tliem  manned.  In  addition,  the  stone  shows  thirteen  cup- 
markings,  two  of  which  are  inclosed  by  the  figure  of  one  of  the  ships,  while 
a  third  is  traversed  by  its  lower  line,  as  seen  in  Fig.  23,  which  is  a  some- 
what reduced  copy  of  Nilsson's  delineation.  Professor  Simpson  is  certainly 
right  in  believing  that  the  cup-cuttings  are  in  this  case  of  eai'lier  date  than 
the  incised  figures.f  Nilsson,  however,  draws  no  such  inference,  but  finds 
in  the  presence  of  the  cups  a  support  for  his  view  that  the  slab  occupied  a 
horizontal  position  in  the  tumulus,  and  served  as  a  sacrificial  altar.  In  this 
tumulus,  which  inclosed  no  stone  chambeV,  were  found  a  rotten  tooth  of 
a  horse,  fragments  of  a  clay  urn,  pieces  of  charcoal,  a  lance-head  and  an 
aiTOw-head,  both  of  flint,  and  a  fine  flint  dagger;  and,  in  addition,  a 
medallion-like  piece  of  bronze,  ornamented  with  graceful  spiral  lines,  such 
as  are  peculiar  to  the  eaidier  bronze  age.  Professor  Nilsson,  therefore, 
has  good  reason  for  ascribing  the  Willfara  tumulus  to  the  age  of  bronze. J 
He  points  out  the  analogy  existing  between  the  sculptures  on  the  Will- 

*  Nilsson:  Das  Bronzealter ;  Nachtrag,  S.  42. 

+  Simpson:  Archaic  Sculptures,  etc.;  p.  78. 

t  Objects  of  flint  and  bronze  are  often  associated  iu  burials  of  the  bronze  age. 


30  CTTP  SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

fixra  slab  and  on  the  chamber-stones  of  the  well-known  monument  at  Kivik, 
in  Christianstad  Liin,  Scania,  which,  according  to  his  view,  was  erected 
by  Baal-worshiping  Phoenicians,  who,  he  thinks,  had  colonies  in  the  North 
of  Europe,  and  introduced  there  the  use  of  bronze.  The  Kivik  sculptures, 
executed  on  seven  unground  granite  slabs,  four  feet  high  and  three  feet 
wide,  exhibit  a  variety  of  figures,  among  them  a  man  standing  on  a  two- 
wheeled  chariot  drawn  by  two  horses,  several  unharnessed  horses,  ships, 
groups  of  men  (supposed  to  represent  warriors,  musicians,  prisoners,  and 
priests),  various  ornamental  (perhaps  symbolical)  designs,  four  wheel-shaped 
figures,  a  cone  or  obelisk  (the  emblem  of  Baal  or  the  sun-god,  according 
to  Nilsson),  and  two  handled  axes,  evidently  representing  weapons  of  metal 
(see  Fig.  24).  Cup-cuttings  are  entirely  wanting  on  the  Kivik  slabs.  The 
sculptures  on  them,  as  interpreted  by  Nilsson,  commemorate  a  victory, 
probably  a  naval  one,  and  the  succeeding  sacrifice  of  prisoners  of  war.* 

Dr.  Petersen  claims,  as  it  were,  the  Kivik  and  similar  Scanian  sculptures 
for  Denmark,  not  only  because  Scania  formed  a  part  of  that  country  until  the 
year  16  -0,  but  also  for  the  reason  that  the  Scanian  monuments  of  the  ages 
of  stone  and  bronze  partake  more  of  a  Danish  than  a  Swedish  character.f 

Lastly,  I  must  refer  to  the  sculptures  which  are  often  seen  on  nat- 
ural rock-surfaces  in  difiTerent  parts  of  the  Scandinavian  Peninsula,  but  are 
particularly  abundant  in  the  Liin  of  Bohus.  They  represent  scenes  of  war 
and  hunting,  manned  and  empty  ships,  etc.,  and  some  of  these  groups  seem 
to  be  executed  in  a  quite  spirited  manner.  There  appear  among  the  figures 
warriors  armed  with  weapons  resembling  the  leaf-shaped  swords  peculiar  to 
the  bronze  age,  to  which,  indeed,  these  rock- engravings  have  been  referred  by 
several  authors.  Professor  Nilsson,  however,  believes  that  they  originated 
during  the  age  of  iron,  ascribing  them  to  the  Vikings  of  the  eighth  and  ainth 
centuries.J  A.  E.  Holmberg's  work  on  the  subject,  entitled  "  Scandinavieus 
Hallristningar "  (Stockholm,  1848),  is  not  within  my  reach;  but  I  am  able 
to  give  in  Fig.  25  a  specimen  illustration  of  this  kind  of  sculpture,  which  I 

*  The  subject  is  treiited  quite  in  detail  by  Nilsson  in  his  work  on  the  bronze  age.  His  illustrations 
of  the  Kivik  slabs  have  been  copied  by  Simpson  in  his  "Archaic  Sculptures,"  where  also  a  r6sum6  of 
Nilssou's  interpretatioi,  is  given. 

tLoc.  cit.,  p.  330. 

tNilsson:  Das  Bronzealter;  S.  90. 


EAU]                                                 SWEDEN— INDIA.  31 

have  taken  from  an  article  by  Dr.  liennart  Aberg.*  It  will  be  seen  that 

cups  and  wheel-shaped  figures  accompany  the  more  elaborate  representa- 
tions. 


INDIA. 

Professor  Desor  lays  particular  stress  on  the  circumstance  that  cup-stones 
are  found  in  various  parts  of  India.  "We  touch  hei-e  upon  the  main  point 
of  our  thesis,"!  he  says  in  his  often-quoted  pamphlet  (page  33),  in  order  to 
render  his  appreciation  of  the  fact  more  conspicuous.  He  mentions  that  a 
number  of  years  ago,  Colonel  Meadows  Taylor  and  Dr.  AVilson  have  drawn 
attention  to  the  analogy  between  the  megalithic  monuments  of  India  J  and 
those  of  Gi^eat  Britain,  while  recently  the  similarity  of  the  figures  sculpt- 
ured on  them  was  pointed  out  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Rivett-Carnac,  an  officer  of  the 
Bengal  civil  service.  Just  at  the  time  when  I  was  engaged  in  preparing 
this  treatise,  that  gentleman  sent  copies  of  his  jjublications  to  tlie  Smitli- 
sonian  Institution,  and  I  became  thus  enabled  to  draw  my  information  from 
the  original  sources. 

In  the  district  of  Nagpoor,  tumuli  surrounded  by  single,  or,  less  fre- 
quently, by  double  stone  circles  are  quite  numerous ;  but  the  most  extensive 
groups  of  this  class  of  barrows  are  situated  near  Junapani,  a  hamlet  lying 
about  five  miles  westward  of  the  civil  station  of  Nagpoor,  on  the  high- 
road to  Katole.  These  mounds  were  explored  in  1867  by  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac 
and  two  other  gentlemen. 

"From  the  people  of  the  neighborhood,"  he  says,  "and  even  from  the 
Brahmans  and  other  learned  persons  of  Nagpoor,  Avho  speak  with  authority 
on  the  ancient  history  of  the  province,  no  satisfactory  information  regard- 
ing the  tribes  who  constructed  these  barrows  is  to  be  obtained.  Some  will 
tell  you  the  story  that  these  mounds  are  the  work  of  giants,  or  of  the  Gao- 

*  Aberg:  Hiillristuingar  uti  Bolmsliin,  iu:  Aniaaler  for  Nordisk  Oldkyndighed ;  Coi)enliagen,  18:i9, 
Plate  X,  p.  386. 

t  "Nous  touclioiis  ici  au  point  capital  de  notre  thfese." 

t  Descriptions  and  representations  of  megalithic  monuments  iu  India,  derived  from  sources  hardly 
attainable  in  this  country,  are  found  in  Fergusson's  "  Eude  Stone  Monuments "  (p.  455,  etc. ),  where  .also 
interesting  details  concerning  the  recent  erection  of  menhirs,  dolmens,  etc.,bj'  the  Khasias  iu  Bengal 
are  given. 


32  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

lees  or  Shepherd  Kings,  regarding  whose  rule  in  Central  India,  at  a  period 
prior  to  the  Aryan  invasion,  a  deep-rooted  tradition  exists.  That  the  circles 
are  very  old,  the  condition  in  which  they  are  now  found  distinctly  shows, 
and  the  remains  discovered  therein  leave  no  doubt  that  they  were  once  the 
burial-places  of  a  people  of  whom  these  circles  are  now  the  only  trace  that 
remains  to  us."  * 

The  tumuli  forming  these  groups  are  all  of  the  same  type,  consisting 
of  circular  mounds  of  earth,  at  present  not  exceeding  four  feet  in  height, 
and  the  circles  surrounding  them,  from  twenty  to  fifty-six  feet  in  diameter, 
are  constructed  of  trap  boulders,  such  as  occur  abundantly  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. A  map  of  the  locality,  accompanying  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac's  descrip- 
tion, shows  no  less  than  sixty-four  tumuli,  distributed  in  several  groups, 
the  largest  of  which  comprises  fifty -four.  Each  circle  contains  a  few  stones 
larger  than  the  rest  and  comparatively  regular  in  shape,  perhaps  in  conse- 
quence of  artificial  modification;  and  such  stones  are  distinguished  by  the 
peculiarity  that  their  upper  surfaces  or  sides  exhibit  cup-cuttings,  differing 
in  size,  and  mostly  arranged  in  regular  groups  formed  by  parallel  lines  or 
other  nearly  symmetrical  dispositions,  as  shown  on  one  of  the  plates  illus- 
trating Mr.  Rivett-Carnac's  report.  Thus  far  ring-scul^itures  have  not  been 
discovered  by  him  on  stones  belonging  to  circles;  but  he  thinks  "they  may 
be  yet  brought  to  light,  together  with  perhaps  other  and  more  striking 
particulars,  linking  these  tumuli  still  more  closely  to  the  remains  found  at 
home."! 

The  few  of  the  mounds  under  notice  which  have  been  opened  inclosed 
no  cists,  the  objects  found  in  them  being  covei'ed,  without  any  special  pro- 
tection, with  the  now  much-hardened  earth  composing  the  mound.  The 
contents  dug  out  from  the  centres  of  the  barrows  wei'e  fragments  of  urns, 
accompanied  by  a  whitish  earth,  probably  produced  by  the  decomposition 
of  bones,  and  articles  of  iron,  thickly  covered  with  rust  and  of  antique 
forms  (celts,  daggers,  spear-heads,  a  snaffle-bit  in  good  preservation,-  stir- 
rups (I),  etc  ).  Ornamented  bangles  or  bracelets  of  copper,  supposed  to  be 
alloyed  with  gold  or  silver,  but  containing  neither  tin  nor  zinc,  are  also 

*Eivett-Camac:  PreMstoric  Eemaius  in  Central  India;  reprinted  from  the  Journal  of  tlio  Asiatic 
Society  of  Bengal ;  Calcutta,  1879,  p.  2. 
t  Ibid.,  pp.  3, 4, 15. 


EAF.]  INDIA.  33 

mentioned  and  figured.  The  author  ascribes  the  absence  of  vaults  in  the 
Junapani  mounds  to  the  want  of  stones  suitable  for  their  construction, 
drawing  attention  to  the  circumstance  that  they  are  not  wanting  in  the 
tumuli  of  other  parts  of  India  where  the  proper  material  is  within  reach. 
Finally  he  enumerates  the  points  of  resemblance  between  the  barrows  of 
Europe  and  those  of  India,  referring  in  particular  to  the  cup-marks  found 
on  stones  surrounding  tumuli  in  both  regions.  * 

Somewhat  later  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac  discovei'ed  on  stones  and  on  rocks 
in  situ  in  the  mountains  of  Kumaon  not  only  cup-sculptures,  but  also  such 
of  rings,  resembling  very  closely  those  seen  in  Great  Britain  and  other 
countries  of  Europe.  Tiie  results  of  his  explorations  in  this  region  and  the 
deductions  therefrom  made  by  him  hardly  can  be  overestimated,  in  view  of 
their  bearing  on  a  most  interesting  problem  of  prehistoric  archaeology.  The 
locality  chiefly  examined  by  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac  is  thus  described : — 

"At  a  point  about  two  miles  and  a  half  south  of  Dwara-Hath,  and 
twelve  miles  north  of  the  military  station  of  Ranikhet  in  Kumaon,  the  bridle- 
road  leading  from  the  plains  through  Naini  Tal  and  Ranikhet  to  Baijiiath, 
and  thence  on  to  the  celebrated  shrine  at  Bidranath,  is  carried  through  a 
narrow  gorge,  at  the  mouth  of  which  is  a  temple  sacred  to  Mahadeo,  where 
the  pilgrims  who  follow  this  route  generally  halt  for  a  short  time,  and  where, 
from  the  position  of  the  temple  in  the  defile,  the  priest  in  charge  can  con- 
veniently levy  contributions  on  all  passers-by.  The  temple  will  not  be 
found  marked  on  the  one-inch-to-the-mile  map  of  the  Great  Trigonometri- 
cal Survey,  but  it  is  locally  known  by  the  name  of  Chandeshwar."! 

About  two  hundred  yards  south  of  the  temple,  toward  the  middle  of 
the  defile,  rises  a  rock  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  presenting  a  surface 
upon  which,  in  a  space  measuring  fourteen  feet  in  height  by  twelve  in 
breadth,  more  than  two  hundred  cups  are  sculptured.  They  var}-  from  an 
inch  and  a  half  to  six  inches  in  diameter,  and  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch 
in  depth,  and  are  arranged  in  groups  composed  of  approximately  parallel 
rows,  as  seen  in  Fig.  26,  which  is  a  copy  of  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac's  repre- 

*  Eivett-Caru<ac :  Preliistoiic  Remains  in  Central  India;  j). 5, etc. 

t  Eivett-Caruac  :  AichieologicaT  Notes  on  Ancient  Sculpturings  on  Rocks  in  Kumaon,  India,  simi- 
lar to  those  found  on  Monoliths  and  Rocks  in  Europe,  etc. ;  reprinted  from  the  Journal  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Beugal;  Calcutta,  1879,  p.  1. 
3  L  S 


34  CUP-SQAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

sentation  of  a  portion  of  the  Chandeshwar  rock.  The  cups,  it  win  be 
noticed,  are  mostly  of  the  simple  type,  and  only  exceptionally  surrounded 
by  single  rings  or  connected  by  grooves.  Somewhat  more  elaborate 
combinations  were  seen  by  the  explorer  upon  other  portions  of  the  same 
rock.  "From  the  villagers  and  from  the  old  priest  at  the  temple  hard  by 
no  information  was  to  be  obtained  of  the  origin  of  these  markings,  beyond 
'that  they  were  so  old  that  the  oldest  man  in  the  village  had  no  knowledge 
of  who  had  made  them,  nor  had  they  been  made  in  the  time  of  their 
fathers'  fathers,  but  they  were  most  probably  the  work  of  the  giants  or  tlie 
goalas  (herdsmen)  in  days  gone  by.'"* 

It  may  not  be  superfluous  to  state  in  this  place  that  "Mahadeo" 
(Mahadeva)  is  one  of  the  many  names  given  •  to  Siva,  the  third  in  the 
Trimurti  or  Hindoo  triad.  Moor  characterizes  him  in  these  words  :  "He  is 
Time,  the  Sun  ;  he  is  Fire,  the  destroyer,  the  generator.  His  consort,  Bha- 
.vani,  is  the  symbol  of  created  nature,  and  in  that  character  named  Pracriti. 
As  the  deity  presiding  over  generation,  his  type  is  the  Linga,  the  origin 
probably  of  the  Phallic  emblem  of  Egypt  and  Greece.  As  the  God  of  Jus- 
tice, which  character  he  shares  with  Yama  and  other  deities,  he  rides  a  bull, 
the  symbol  of  divine  justice.  He  holds,  as  his  commonest  attribute,  a 
trident,  called  Trisitla,  in  this,  and  in  some  other  points,  resembling  our 
Neptune:  his  consort  also  has  a  relationship  to  water,  although  Vishnu  be 
generally  the  deity  presiding  over  humidity.  —  -  —  As  emblems  of 
immortality,  serpents  are  a  common  ornament  with  many  deities ;  but 
Mahadeva  seems  most  abundantly  bedecked  with  them :  bound  in  his  hair, 
round  his  neck,  wrists,  waist,  arms,  and  legs,  as  well  as  for  rings,  snakes 
are  his  constant  attendants."! 

Malmdeo  is  worshiped  by  the  Hindoo  sect  called  the  Saivas  under 
the  form  of  a  phallus,  sometimes  represented  by  an  upright  stone  pillar, 
more  or  less  modified  by  art,  but  often  in  the  same  shape,  in  conjunction 
with  the  Yoni,  the  female  organ  of  generation,  and  the  special  emblem  of 
Bhavani.  These  symbolic  representations  are  seen  in  Hindoostan  of  all 
sizes,  from  a  large,  rudely-executed  sculpture  to  a  diminutive  object  of  art; 
but  they  generally  present  a  conventional  shape,  in  which  the  uninitiated 

*  Eivett-Camac :  Arcbseologioal  Notes,  etc. ;  p.  3. 
tMoor:  The  Hindu  Pantheon;  London,  1810,  p.  36. 


EAU.l  INDIA.  35 

liardly  would  recognize  what  they  are  intended  to  recall ;  and  it  may  be 
added  that  no  obscene  conceptions  are  mingled  in  the  minds  of  the  many 
thousands  of  Hindoos  Avho  venerate  under  this  form  the  generative  energy 
of  nature.  The  great  centre  of  Siva- worship  in  India  is  the  city  of  Benares. 
After  this  digression,  I  insert  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac's  description  of  the  Chan- 
deshwar  temple: — 

"On  visiting  the  temple  sacred  to  Maliadeo  at  the  entrance  to  the 
gorge,  I  could  not  help  being  struck  by  the  peculiar  construction  of  many 
of  its  shrines  as  bearing  a  marked  resemblance  to  these  rock-markings.  In 
addition  to  the  principal  shrine,  placed  within  the  temple  itself,  a  massive 
little  structure  built  up  of  lai-ge  stones,  many  of  which  would  appear  to 
have  been  taken  from  Buddhist  ruins  so  plentiful  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Dwara-Hath,  I  counted  thirty-seven  minor  shrines  within  the  walled  in- 
closure  by  which  the  temple  is  surrounded.  These  consist  mostly  of  a 
rough  pedestal  formed  of  loose  stones  surmounted  by  a  Mahadeo  and  Yoni. 
The  Yoni,  in  the  largest  of  these  shrines,  was  a  solid  block  of  stone,  cut  to 
the  well-known  'jew's-harp'  shape,  the  upright  Mahadeo  being  slightly 
carved  at  the  summit  and  base.  Some  half  a  dozen  others  were  more  or 
less  solid  and  well  made,  according  to  the  conventional  construction  of  these 
symbols.  In  one  case  the  stone  which  did  service  for  the  Yoni  was  the 
cushion-shaped  finial  of  some  Buddhist  temple,  the  Maliadeo  being  repre- 
sented by  a  carved  head  with  higli-raised  cap,  broken  off  from  some  neigh- 
boring ruin.  The  fragment  had  been  inserted,  cap  downward,  in  the  square 
hole  by  which  the  cushion  had  been  fixed  on  to  the  top  of  the  original 
structure." 

I  interrupt  here  the  author's  account  in'  order  to  direct  attention  to 
Figures  27  and  28,  the  first  of  which,  copied  from  Plate  III  of  the  pamphlet 
under  notice,  represents  the  section  of  a  large  stone  Mahadeo  and  Yoni  in 
the  Chandeshwar  temple  ;  while  Fig.  28  shows  the  same  symbol  in  a  more 
elaborate  form,  as  seen  by  the  author  in  a  temple  or  shrine  at  Benares,  and 
ill  istrates  the  "jew's-harp"  shape  to  which  he  alludes.  In  this  instance, 
by  way  of  attribute,  a  serpent  is  coiled  around  the  emblem  of  Mahadeo. 
The  figure  is  taken  from  another  pamphlet  by  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac,  relating 
io  the  snake  symbol  in  India.     Leaving  aside  the  serpent,  a  ground-plan  of 


36  CtJP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

Fig.  28  would  correspond  very  closely  to  Simpson's  fifth  type  (Fig.  1  of 
this  pulilication). 

"The  remaining  shrines,"  he  continues,  "were  of  a  much  poorer  type. 
But  this  last  class  was  to  me  much  the  most  interesting,  as  suggesting  a 
possible  connection  between  the  rock-markings  and  Lingam  worship. 
Rough  sketches  of  these  types  will  be  found  in  Plate  III,  which  accom- 
panies this  paper  (here  given  as  Figures  29,  30,  and  31).  The  position  and 
arrangement  of  these  symbols  and  the  veneration  paid  to  them,  some  having 
been  quite  recently  decked  with  small  offerings  of  flowers,  left  no  doubt 
that  they  equally  with  the  larger  and  more  solid  shrines  represented  the 
Mahadeo  and  Yoni.  But  whereas  in  the  first-noticed  and  better  class  the 
Mahadeo  is  represented  by  an  iipright  stone,  this  other  and  poorer  type  is 
without  the  upright,  and  is  apparently  a  conventional  rendering  or  sketch  of 
these  symbols  roughlj^  cut  out  on  the  stone,  the  inner  circle  representing 
the  Mahadeo,  the  outer  circle  the  Yoni,  the  line  or  lines  the  gutter  by  which 
the  libations  and  offerings  are  drained  off  from  this  as  well  as  from  the  more 
elaborate  class  of  Mahadeos.  In  the  centre  of  the  yard  is  a  monolith 
Mahadeo  of  four  feet  and  a  half  in  height  above  the  ground.  It  has  no 
markings  on  it,  but  together  with  all  its  surroundings  seems  very  old.  The 
priest  in  charge  of  the  temple  held  that  most  of  the  shrines  were  very  old, 
and  accounted  for  their  large  number  by  saying  that  the  yard  was  the 
bm-ial-place  of  men  of  great  sanctity,  some  of  whom  had  been  brought  from 
great  distances  for  interment  there,  and  that  Mahadeos  of  an  elaborate  or 
poor  class  were  placed  over  the  tombs  according  to  the  means  of  the 
deceased's  friends."* 

The  resemblance  of  the  sculptures  represented  by  Figures  29,  30,  and 
31  to  a  class  of  cuttings  on  boulders,  rocks,  and  megalithic  monuments  in 
Europe  cannot  be  denied;  but  this  is  a  subject  to  which  I  shall  revert  in 
the  sequel. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Chandeshwar  the  explorer  noticed  some  temples 
or  enclosures  consisting  ot  concentric  stone  walls  of  rude  construction, 
open  in  one  j)lfice,  with  the  Mahadeos,  represented  by  stone  pillars,  in  the 
centre.     The  construction  of  the  temples,  he  thinks,  appears  of  some  inter- 

"Rivett-Camac:  ArchiBological  Notes,  etc. ;  pp.  3,  4,  5. 


EAU.i  ■  INDIA.  37 

est  when  considered  in  connection  with  the  rock-cuttings  and  shrines  at 
Chandeshwar,  fifteen  miles  distant.* 

Mr.  Rivett-Carnac  refers  to  a  letter  received  in  1877  from  a  gentleman 
then  in  India,  Mr.  Campbell  of  Islay,  who  is  much  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject of  Scottish  rock-markings.  Being  at  Ayodhya  with  a  Hindoo  who 
spoke  good  English,  Mr.  Campbell  procured  a  fakir,  and  drew  on  the  sand 
two  concentric  circles  with  a  dot  in  the  middle,  asking  what  the  figure  meant. 
The  fakir  at  once  answered  "Mahadeo."  He  then  drew  a  similar  figure 
with  a  radial  line  beginning  in  the  centre,  and  received  the  same  answer. 
The  meaning  of  these  figures,  Mr.  Camjibell  says,  is  familiarly  known 
throughout  India.  At  Delhi  he  learned  from  a  friend  that  they  are  chalked 
on  stones  in  Kangra  (Punjab)  by  people  marching  in  marriage-processions.f 
This  fact  is  certainly  significant,  to  say  the  least.  Professor  Desor,  more- 
over, states,  probably  on  the  strength  of  private  communications  from  Mr. 
Rivett-Carnac, t  that  Hindoo  women  carry,  in  pilgrimages,  water  from  the 
Ganges  to  the  mountains  of  the  Punjab,  for  the  purpose  of  besprinkling 
with  it  these  signs  in  the  temples,  where  they  invoke  the  divinity  to  bestow 
on  them  the  favor  of  motherhood  (page  34). 

The  final  conclusions  arrived  at  by  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac  are  summed  up 
in  the  closing  paragraph  of  his  article  on  the  snake  symbol  in  India,  written 
subsequently  to  his  investigations  in  Nagpoor  and  Kumaon. 

"I  may  add  in  conclusion,"  he  observes,  "that  no  one  who  has  been 
in  this  countr}'  and  who  has  noticed  the  monolith  Mahadeos  of  the  Western 
Ghats  of  the  Himalayas  and  other  parts  of  India,  can  fail  to  be  struck  with 
the  resemblance  that  the  menhirs  of  Carnac  in  Brittanj'^  and  its  neighbor- 
hood bear  to  the  Siva  emblems  of  India.  I  visited  these  remarkable 
remains  when  at  home  last  year,  and  was  quite  taken  aback  by  their  resem- 
blance to  well-known  Indian  types.  The  monoliths  of  Scotland  covered 
with  what  I  believe  to  be  '  Mahadeo '  symbols  are  of  the  same  class.  Added 
to  this,  in  the  recesses  of  the  Pyrenees,  the  people  whose  language  suggests 
their  descent  from  the  tribes  Avho  erected  the  tumuli  and  menhirs,  not  only 
in  this  neighborhood,  but  also  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  still  presence  tra- 

*  Rivett-Carnac :  Archaeological  Notes,  etc.;  p.  5.  tibid.,  p.  15. 

t  Professor  Desor  alludes  to  a  correspoudence  with  Mr.  Kivott-Carnac  (Correspondenz-Blatt  der 
Deutschbn  Antbiopologischen  Gesellschaft,  1877,  S.  127). 


38  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

ditions  connected  Avitli  these  monoliths,  and  have  actually  retained  some 
traces  of  what  I  will  call  Siva-worship  *  With  this  evidence,  added  to  the 
points  noticed  in  my  papers  on  the  Junapani  barrows  and  the  Kumaon 
markings,  the  connection  between  the  marks  in  India  and  Europe  may  then, 
I  hope,  be  considered  tolerably  comj^lete."! 

It  should  be  mentioned  that  cupped  boulders  of  gneissoid  porphj-ry 
were  discovered  by  Dr.  Verchere  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus,  in  Cashmere, 
prior  to  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac's  explorations.  Yet  the  first-named  traveler, 
not  knowing  the  character  of  cup- cuttings,  was  inclined  to  ascribe  the 
artificial  cavities  to  the  action  of  glaciers.  "This  supposition,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Desor,  "  appears  to  ns  totally  inadmissible.  The  action  of  glaciers 
doubtless  tends  to  modify  the  rocks  upon  which  they  move.  Tliey  polish 
them  and  leave  upon  them  characteristic  furrows  and  striae.  Though  we 
have  ourselves  devoted  long  years  to  the  study  of  glaciers,  we  have  never 
noticed  that  they  produce  cavities  like  basins  or  cups.  It  must  therefore 
be  conceded  that  these  latter  are  the  work  of  man.  M.  Verchfere  doubtless 
would  have  felt  less  scruple  in  admitting  this  origin,  if  he  had  been  acquainted 
with  the  frequent  occurrence  of  cups  on  erratic  blocks  in  Europe"  (page  06). 

At  the  close  of  his  essay  Professor  Desor,  availing  himself  of  the 
remarkable  results  obtained  by  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac,  sets  forth  the  inferences 
he  draws  from  the  occurrence  of  cups  and  other  archaic  figures  upon  stones 
and  rocks  in  countries  as  far  distant  from  each  other  as  India  and  Ireland. 
He  ascribes  the  practice  of  executing  such  sculptures  to  people  of  the  Aryan 
stock,  who,  he  thinks,  transferred  this  peculiar  custom  from  their  Asiatic 
homes  to  the  'countries  of  Europe.     He  connects  with  this  immigration  the 

*  The  author  refers  to  certain  superstitious  practices  in  councction  with  sacred  stones,  but  lately  or 
even  still  in  vogue  among  the  people  in  the  Pyrenees,  as  stated  by  Jlessrs.  Piette  and  Sacaze  in  the 
article  quoted  in  my  account  of  cup-stoucs  in  France.  Speaking  of  a  boulder,  called  Lc  Cailhaoii 
d'Arriba-Pardin,  they  say: — 

"Autrefois,  il  y  a  trente  ans  i\  peine,  Ics  jeuues  gens  do  Poubeau  allaicut  eu  procession,  le  soir  du 
mardi-gras,  fairc  sur  eetto  pierre  un  grand  feu  do  paille  pour  lequel  cliaquo  chef  de  maison  foumissait 
unc  botte.  Us  marchaient  un  il  un,  chacun  tenant  par  derri&re  celni  qui  lo  pr6c(5dait,  et  s'avan? aient 
dans  unc  attitude  et  avec  dcs  gestes  a  la  fois  burlesques  et  ohsc6nes." 

With  reference  to  a  menhir  in  the  same  district  the  following  statement  is  made : — 

"Encore  aujourd'hui,  lorsquo  les  habitants  de  Bourg-d'Oueil  vont  de  ce  c6t6,  plus  d'une  jeune 
femme  va  baiser  lc  menhir  en  cachctto." — Pieth'  et  Sacaze:  Les  Monuments  de  la  Moiiiagned'Espiaup  {Pijri- 
n&s) ;  Mat<Sriaux,  1878,  p.  257-58. 

tRivett-Carnac:  Rough  Kotos  on  the  Snake  Symbol  in  India,  etc.;  reprinted  from  the  Journal  of 
the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal ;  Calcutta,  187i>,  p.  14. 


RAU.j  INDIA.  39 

erection  of  raegalithic  stnictures  in  those  countries,*  and  believes,  in  sliort, 
that  the  neohthic  period  dates  in  Europe  from  the  arrival  of  those  Asiatics, 
who  supplanted  there  the  troglodytic  tribes  (probably  Mongolian),  of  which 
the  Laps  are  the  last  remnant  in  Europe.  The  Aryan  new-comers,  he  be- 
lieves, brought  with  them  several  species  of  domestic  animals  and  of  cereals, 
the  remains  of  which  are  found  abundantly  in  the  Swiss  lacustrine  settle- 
ments of  earliest  date,  and  likewise  the  celts  of  jadeite  and  nephrite  dis- 
covered in  the  dolmens  of  Brittany  and  in  lake-dwellings,  and  consisting  of 
materials  not  found  in  Europe,  but  by  no  means  rare  in  the  East. 

"It  would  remain  to  us,"  he  says,  "to  investigate  by  what  routes 
these  colonists  from  Asia  reached  Europe ;  whether  they  followed  the  same 
track  or  came  in  successive  waves,  as  it  were,  advancing  in  different  direc- 
tions. This  is  a  vast  and  arduous  task,  which  cannot  be  entered  upon  in  a 
rapid  sketch  like  the  present  one,  but  which,  perhaps,  we  shall  make  one 
day  the  subject  of  a  special  treatise"  (page  43). 

Reserving  my  observations  on  the  theories  advanced  by  Professor 
Desor  and  other  archaeologists  for  a  subsequent  part  of  this  treatise,  I 
close  my  brief  account  of  primitive  sculptures  in  the  Old  World  and  pass 
over  to  a  consideration  of  analogous  lapidai'ian  work  in  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere. 

*  "  It  should  bo  remembered,"  lie  s^ys,  "  that,  according  to  tlie  majority  of  archaeologists,  the  mega- 
lithic  monuments  of  Europe  belong  to  the  age  of  polished  stone,  considering  that  arms  and  utensils 
almost  exclusively  of  stone  have  been  found  in  the  large  dolmens  of  Brittany,  and  that  among  the  fine 
colts  they  have  furnished,  several  are  made  of  jadeite  and  other  kinds  of  stone  peculiar  to  the  East. 
Copper  beads,  it  is  true,  have  been  taten  from  several  dolmens  in  the  South  of  France,  aud  Messrs.  Pietto 
and  Sacaze,  moreover,  have  not  long  ago  discovered  in  the  cromlechs  of  the  Pyrenees  bronze  bracelets 
with  designs  recalling  those  seen  on  the  ornaments  of  the  later  bronze  age ;  but  hence  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  the  metal  was  introduced  in  Europe  simultaneously  with  the  megalithic  structures.  The  latter 
may  be  of  anterior  date,  and  their  use  may  have  been  continued  after  the  introduction  of  bronze,  and 
perhaps  oven  longer." — Pierres  d  ^eu-elles,  p.  40. 


PA.RT    II. 

PRIMITIVE  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES  IN  AMERICA. 
NOETH  AMEEIOA. 

Before  entering  upon  the  subject  indicated  in  the  above  heading,  I  have 
to  allude,  for  the  sake  of  gradual  demonstration,  to  the  so-called  hammer- 
stones,  a  well-known  class  of  aboriginal  relics  found  in  considerable  number 
throughout  the  United  States.  They  are  generally  roundish  or  oval  pebbles 
of  a  somewhat  compressed  or  flattened  form,  presenting-  in  their  side  view 
the  outline  of  a  more  or  less  elongated  ellipse.  Their  only  artificial  alter- 
ation consists  in  two  small  pits  or  cavities,  so  placed  to  form  the  centres  of 
the  opposite  broader  sides.  In  these  cavities  the  workman  is  supposed  to 
have  placed  the  thumb  and  middle  finger  of  the  right  hand,  wlnle  the  fore- 
finger pressed  against  the  upper  circumference  of  the  stone.  The  material 
of  these  implements  is  usually  quartzite,  graywacke,  or  some  other  kind  of 
compact  sandstone. 

As  similar  stones  occur  in  Europe,  speculations  upon  their  use  are  not 
wanting,  and  Professor  Nilsson,  in  particular,  has  tried  to  prove  they  had 
been  employed  in  chipping  tools  and  weapions  of  flint.f  I  will  admit  that 
they  may  have  been  used,  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America,  for  fashion- 
ing rough  implements  and  for  flaking  off  pieces  of  flint,  etc.,  wliich  were 
eventually  to  be  brought  into  definite  shapes;  but  they  are  by  far  too 
clumsy  and  possess  too  much  roundness  on  all  sides  to  have  been  the 
tools  for  fabricating  arrow-heads  and  other  delicate  articles  of  flint.  How 
would  it  be  possible,  for  instance,  to  produce  a  stemmed  dart  with  long 

tNilssou:  The  Primitive  Inhabitants  of  Scandinavia;  translated  by  Sir  Joliu  Lubbocl<; ;  London, 
1668,  p.  10,  etc. 


42  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAKIAN  SCULPTURES. 

barbs  by  means  of  such  a  hammer-stone  ?  The  art  of  making  stone  arrow- 
lieads,  moreover,  is  no  longer  a  mystery,  at  least  not  in  1»lie  United  States, 
Avhere  several  methods  still  are  employed  by  certain  western  tribes  for 
fashioning  them.  They  probably  were  mostly  chipped  into  their  final  shape 
by  pressure  with  tools  of  horn  or  bone,  a  number  of  which,  obtained  from 
still  existing  tribes,  can  be  seen  in  the  United  States  National  Museum. 
Tlie  fine  neolithic  flint  objects  of  Northern  Europe,  such  as  barbed  and 
stemmed  arrow  and  spear-heads,  daggers,  crescent-shaped  implements,  etc., 
doubtless  Avere  produced  by  similar  methods. 

Whether  the  bruised  pitted  stones  were  originally  designed  for  liam- 
mers,  or  whether,  in  view  of  the  diverse  purposes  which  implements  some- 
times have  to  serve  in  the  hands  of  uncivilized  man,  their  use  as  hammers 
was  a  secondary  one,  are  questions  upon  which  I  will  not  enlarge  in  this 
place.*  It  is  certain,  however,  that  a  large  number  of  the  pitted  stones, 
usually  called  hammer-stones  in  the  United  States,  are  perfectly  intact  at 
their  circumferences,  and  consequently  cannot  have  served  as  imagined. 
Of  the  many  pitted  stones  in  the  National  Museum,  sixty — derived  from 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Illinois,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Louisiana, 
and  California — are  now  on  exhibition,  and  of  these  only  twelve  show  the 
marks  of  hammering.  There  is  a  single  pit  either  on  each  of  the  opposite 
broad  sides  or  only  on  one  side  of  the  stones  now  considered,  and  their 
cavities,  differing  in  size  and  depth,  are  not  ground,  but  apparently  pro- 
duced, sometimes  quite  clumsily,  by  means  of  a  tool  of  flint  or  other  hard 
stone.  May  not  such  stones  have  been  used  by  the  aborigines  for  cracking 
upon  them,  by  means  of  other  stones,  the  different  kinds  of  hard-shelled 
fruits  so  abundant  in  North  America  t  The  cavities  mostly  ai*e  of  sufficient 
depth  to  hold  any  kind  of  nut  in  place.  This  kind  of  work  would  chiefly 
have  devolved  upon  women  and  children  (particularly  girls),  and  hence  it 
Avould  not  be  difficult  to  account  for  the  large  number  of  these  stones,  f    And 

*  The  real  North  American  hammer-stones,  I  am  now  inclined  to  belicye,  are  pebbles  or  fragments 
of  quartzite  or  flinty  materials,  sometimes  modified  by  art  and  much  battered  by  use.  They  tell  their 
own  story,  as  it  weie.  Exactly  similar  stones  are  found  in  Europe.  Mr.  Evans  figures  two  of  them  on 
page  22:!  of  his  well-known  work  on  the  stone  implements,  etc.,  of  Great  Britain. 

tTtat  the  method  hero  indicated  .was  in  vogue  among  the  prehistoric  people  of  Europe  is  almost 
demonstrated  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell's  dcscriprion  of  a  log-cabin,  discovered  in  1833  by  Captain  Mudge,  K. 
N.,  in  Drnmkellin  bog,  in  Donegal,  Ireland,  at  a  depth  of  fourteen  feet  from  the  surface.  It  was  twelve 
feet  square  and  nine  feet  high,  being  divided  into  two  stories,  each  four  feet  high.     The  planking 


KAU.j  ISTOETH  AMERICAN  PITTED  STONES.  43 

further,  an  intact  flattish  stone,  used  with  its  broad  side  as  a  hammer  for 
beating  upon  the  end  of  a  flint  tool — an  operation  probably  often  per- 
formed in  savage  life — would  gradnall)^  receive  at  the  point  of  contact  the 
impression  of  the  harder  flint.  Hence  a  number  of  pitted  stones  may  owe 
their  cavities  to  such  a  mode  of  application. 

Fig.  32  represents  a  stone  of  the  class  under  notice,  which  was  found 
near  Franklin,  Williamson  County,  Tennessee,  and  belongs  to  the  series 
exhibited  in  the  National  Museum.  It  is  a  somewhat  flattish  pebble  of  oval 
shape,  about  two  inches  in  thickness,  and  showing  onlj^  on  one  side  a  small 
cavity,  worked  out  very  carelessly,  and  just  large  enough  to  receive  an 
object  of  the  size  of  a  nut.     The  material  is  a  clayey  sandstone. 

Sometimes  these  stones  exhibit  two  cavities  close  together,  as  though 
it  had  been  intended  to  crack  with  one  blow  two  nuts  placed  in  these  pits. 
Such  a  stone  is  represented  by  Fig.  33.  The  original  belongs  to  a  series  of 
pitted  stones  which  were  sent  to  me,  many  years  ago,  by  my  friend,  Mr.  J. 
M.  M.  Gernerd,  of  Muncy,  Lycoming  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  had  been 
collected  by  him  in  that  neighborhood,  more  especially  near  the  banks  of 
the  Susquehanna  River.  This  specimen,  a  gray  wacke  pebble  not  exceeding 
an  inch  and  one-quarter  in  thickness,  sliows  on  both  sides  two  shallow  con- 
tiguous cavities.  When  the  first  white  settlers  penetrated  to  that  part  of  the 
Susquehanna  Valley,  they  found  on  or  near  the  present  site  of  Muncy  a 
village  of  the  Minsi  or  Munsey  Indians,  the  Wolf  clan  of  the  great  Lenni- 
Lenape  or  Delaware  nation ;  and  the  name  "  Muncy,"  indeed,  perpetuates 
the  designation  of  that  clan.  There  is  still  a  tradition,  I  am  informed 
by  Mr.  Grernerd,  that  they  were  in  the  habit  of  gathering  large 
supplies  of  shell-bark  hickory-nuts,  which  formerly  grew  plentifully  in  the 
neighborhood. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  nuts  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
household  of  the  North  American  Indians.    The  first  adventurers  of  the 

consisted  of  oak,  split  Mv'ith  wedges  of  stoue,  and  the  roof  was  flat.  A  stone  celt  and  a  flint  arrow-head 
found  in  the  interior  of  this  primitive  building  furnish  additional  proofs  of  its  remote  antiquity.  "  Ou 
the  floor  of  the  dwelling,"  observes  Captain  Mudge,  "lay  a  slab  of  freestone,  three  feet  long  and  four- 
teen inches  thick,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  a  small  i)it,  three-quarters  of  an  inch  deeii,  which  had  been 
chiseled  out.  This  is  presumed  to  have  been  used  for  holding  nuts  to  be  cracked  by  means  of  one  of 
the  round  shingle-stones,  also  found  there,  which  had  served  as  a  hammer.  Some  entire  hazel-nuts  and  a 
great  quantity  of  brokeu  shells  were  strewed  about  the  floor."— i^cH  :  Auliquitij  of  Man  ;  Loudon  and 
Philadelphia,  1873,  p.  32. 


44  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

Latin  race  who  came  in  contact  with  them  (Cabe^a  de  Vaca,  the  anony- 
mous Knight  of  Elvas,  Biedma),  and  many  authors  of  more  modern  times, 
mention  these  fruits  as  an  important  article  of  food  of  the  aboriginal  inhabit- 
ants. It  can  be  imagined  that  they  consumed  a  large  quantity  in  a  raw 
state;  but  they  also  prepared  from  them  an  oily,  milk-like  liquid,  which 
they  used  as  an  ingredient  in  the  preparation  of  other  food.  Full  details  in 
regard  to  this  subject  have  been  published  by  Colonel  Charles  C.  Jones  in 
his  work  on  the  antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians,  to  which  I  would  refer 
those  specially  interested  in  the  subject.* 

He  there  also  draws  for  the  first  time  attention  to  a  class  of  utensils  which 
he  designates  as  "nut-stones,"  and  to  which  he  ascribes,  as  the  name  im- 
plies, the  same  mode  of  employment  which  I  feel  inclined  to  claim  for  the 
pitted  stones  just  described.  Colonel  Jones  found  the  relics  called  nut- 
stones  by  him  in  considerable  number  in  Middle  and  Upper  Georgia,  but 
most  abundantly  on  the  site  of  an  old  Indian  village  near  the  confluence 
of  the  Great  Kiokee  Creek  and  the  Savannah  River  (Columbia  County). 
More  than  thirty  were  there  seen  by  him  within  the  space  of  a  few  acres. 
He  thus  describes  them : — 

"They  consist  of  irregular  masses  of  compact  sandstone  or  soapstone, 
weighing  from  two  to  ten  pounds,  in  whose  surfaces  occur  circular  depres- 
sions, from  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and  from  one-quarter 
to  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  depth.  Upon  the  broadest  and  flattest  sides 
these  depressions,  from  three  to  five  in  number,  are  located  close  together. 
To  produce  them  the  harder  stones  had  been  pecked  and  the  softer  gouged. 
Not  only  on  one  side  do  they  appear,  but  frequently  on  both  sides,  and 
often  in  the  ends,  so  that  the  stone,  when  set  up  in  the  earth  on  any  one  of 
its  faces,  would  always  present  one  or  more  of  these  cup-shaped  cavities 
ready  for  use.  Their  cavities  are  so  located  that  one,  two,  three,  four,  five, 
and  sometimes  more  nuts  could  be  cracked  at  a  single  blow  delivered  by 
means  of  the  circular  flat  crushing-stones  so  common  and  so  often  found  in 
direct  connection  with  the  rude  articles  now  under  consideration.  The  cups 
are  just  large  enough  to  hold  a  hickory-nut  or  a  walnut  in  proper  position, 
so  that,  when  struck,  its  pieces  would  be  prevented  from  being  widely  scat- 

*  Jones  (Charles  C):  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians;  New  York,  1873,  p.  315,  etc. 


EATJ  ]  NOETH  AMERICAN  NUT-STONES.  45 

tei'ed.  Particularly  do  the  soapstones  indicate  the  impressions  left  by  the 
convex  surfaces  of  the  harder  nuts.  Upon  some  of  them  the  depressions  seem 
to  have  been  caused  simply  by  repeatedly  cracking  the  nuts  upon  the  same 
spot,  so  that  in  time  a  concavity  was  produced  corresponding  to  the  half  of 
the  spherical  or  spheroidal  nut.  Such  is  the  most  natural  explanation  we 
can  offer  with  regard  to  the  use  of  these  stones ."* 

It  should  be  added  that  Colonel  Jones  found  in  some  instances  the 
sites  where  he  collected  the  stones  even  now  overshadowed  by  hickory  and 
w^alnut-trees.  I  had  frequent  occasion  to  examine  the  specimens  of  this 
class  brought  together  by  him,  and  I  never  doubted  for  a  moment  the  cor- 
rectness of  his  view  as  to  the  use  of  these  utensils. 

A  nnt-stone  of  coai'se-grained  sandstone,  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Loudon,  Loudon  County,  Tennessee,  and  preserved  in  the  National  Museum, 
is  represented  by  Fig.  34.  It  shows  on  the  figured  surface  ten  irregular  con- 
ical depressions,  four  of  which  are  considerably  larger  than  the  rest.  The 
lower  side  is  provided  with  eight  unequal  cavities  of  the  same  character. 

The  cavities  in  the  North  American  stone  utensils  thus  far  described 
are  produced,  as  stated,  in  a  manner  betokening  but  little  care.  I  now  pass 
over  to  another  class  of  objects,  which  bear  in  their  general  ajDpearance 
much  resemblance  to  the  first-mentioned  stones  (typified  by  Fig.  32),  but 
Avhich,  to  judge  from  the  character  of  their  cavities,  were  designed  for  a 
totally  different  purpose.  They  are  pebbles,  or  more  or  less  flattish  frag- 
ments, exhibiting  either  on  one  of  the  bi'oad  surfaces  or  on  both,  a  reg- 
ular cup-shaped  cavity  from  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter, 
which  has  almost  invariably  been  produced  by  means  of  a  rotating  grind- 
ing tool. 

Fig.  35  shows  the  character  of  a  specimen  of  this  class  in  the  National 
Museum.  It  is  a  somewhat  flattish  dioritic  pebble,  two  inches  and  a  half 
thick,  which  exhibits  on  the  figured  surface  a  circular  cup-shaped  cavity, 
measuring  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter  and  nine-sixteenths  of  an  inch  in 
depth.  There  is  a  similar  cavity  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stone.  This 
specimen  was  found  near  Groveport,  Franklin  County,  Ohio. 

*  Jones  (Charles  C.) :  Antiquities  of  tlie  Southern  Indians;  pp.  315,  318. 


46  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

In  Fig.  36  I  give  the  representation  of  another  stone  of  this  type, 
derived  from  the  neighborhood  of  Portsmoutli,  Ohio,  and  likewise  preserved 
in  the  National  Museum.  It  is  a  pebble  of  fine-grained  sandstone,  almost 
quadrilateral  in  shape,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  thick,  and  provided  on  each 
side  with  a  rather  shallow  depression.  Both  cavities  are  covered  with  red 
paint,  which  seems  to  have  penetrated  into  the  stone.  Several  other  speci- 
mens in  the  archaeological  collection  of  the  National  Museum  are  character- 
ized by  the  same  peculiarity,  and  hence  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  stones 
under  notice  are  cups  in  which  the  aborigines  rubbed  or  dissolved  the  colors 
used  in  face-painting  and  for  other  purposes.  Indeed,  paint-mortai-s  of 
stone,  not  much  differing  from  the  utensils  in  question,  are  still  employed 
by  remote  western  tribes. 

I  must  now  proceed  to  consider  another  very  remarkable  class  of  North 
American  relics,  namely,  stones  of  larger  size,  upon  which  several  cup- 
like cavities  are  worked  out.  The  material  of  these  stones  is  almost 
exclusively  sandstone,  and  they  occur  mostly  in  the  shape  of  flat  fragments 
without  definite  contours.  The  cups  are  either  on  one  of  the  flat  sides  or 
on  both,  and  their  number  on  a  surface  varies,  as  far  as  I  have  observed, 
from  two  to  ten.  They  are  irregularly  distributed,  being  placed  close 
together  or  more  or  less  apart  from  each  other.  In  general  they  measure 
an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter,  but  sometimes  less.  The  cavities  are  pro- 
duced by  grinding,  and  usually  approach  a  semi-spherical  form;  occasion- 
ally, however,  they  are  somewhat  conical  or  funnel-shaped.  Their  inner 
surfaces  exhibit  different  degi'ees  of  smoothness,  being  often,  in  conse- 
quence of  weathering,  rather  rough,  like  the  remaining  surface  of  the  stone. 
These  cup-stones  bear  some  resemblance  to  those  found  in  certain  lacustrine 
stations  of  Switzerland ;  but  they  seem  to  differ  in  ajjpearance  and  destina- 
tion from  the  English  cupped  stones  described  by  Mr.  Grreenwell. 

A  cup-stone  in  the  National  Museum,  derived  from  Summit  County, 
Ohio,  and  weighing  eleven  pounds,  is  represented  by  Fig.  37.  The  level 
surface  shows  nine  cups,  of  which  six  are  perfect,  and  three,  placed  near 
the  bi'okeu  sides,  more  or  less  incomplete.  The  stone,  it  will  be  seen,  is  a 
fragment,  and  may  originally  have  been  provided  with  more  than  nine  cav- 
ities.    There  are  now  eleven  of  these  cup-stones  in  the  National  Museum, 


EATj]  NORTH  AMERICAN  CUP-STONES.  47 

five  of  which  have  been  found  in  Pennsylvania,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
Illinois,  while  the  remaining  six  are  derived  from  Ohio,  which  State,  I 
believe,  has  furnished  the  majority  of  the  known  specimens. 

An  Ohio  cup-stone  in  the  National  Museum  deserves  particular  men- 
tion, onaccount  of  one  of  its  cavities  being  covered  with  red  paint,  which 
cannot  be  removed  by  moistening.  It  is  the  only  case  of  this  kind  noticed 
by  me,  and  the  use  of  the  cavity  as  a  paint-cup  in  this  instance  may  be 
accidental.  I  therefore  will  not  venture  to  express  the  opinion  that  all 
North  American  cup-stones  of  the  type  represented  by  Fig.  '67  are  to  be 
considered  as  utensils  designed  to  hold  colors.  Yet  the  possibility  of  this 
mode  of  application  cannot  be  denied,  considering  that  the  Indian  inhab- 
itants of  the  East  and  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  employed  different  kinds 
of  paints,  each  of  which  had  to  be  made  ready  for  .use  in  a  separate  recep- 
tacle. Small  paint-cups  of  earthenware,  joined  together,  and  certainly 
reminding  one  by  their  arrangement  of  the  cavities  in  the  stones  under 
notice,  are  in  use  among  the  Zufii  Indians  of  New  Mexico.  Several  speci- 
mens were  obtained  by  Mr.  James  Stevenson  in  1879,  during  his  expedition 
to  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  undertaken  under  the  auspices  of  the  Bureau 
of  Ethnology.  Fig.  38  represents  one  of  the  articles  in  question.  It  con- 
sists of  four  united  cups  of  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter  and  about  an 
inch  in  depth.*  The  paints  still  adhering  to  the  inner  surfaces  of  these 
cups  are  red,  white,  yellow,  and  blue.  There  is  but  little  difference  be- 
tween the  dimensions  of  the  cups  and  the  cavities  of  the  cup-stones  just 
described. 

Mr.  Stevenson  obtained  on  the  same  occasion  from  Indians  of  the 
Pueblo  of  Tesuque,  New  Mexico,  a  small  mortar  and  pestle,  both  of  stone, 
whicb  were  used  by  them  in  the  preparation  of  paint.  This  simple  appa- 
ratus, represented  by  Fig.  39,  hardly  would  attract  particular  attention,  if 
it  were  not  for  a  cup-shaped  cavity  excavated  on  one  side  of  the  pestle, 
and  perfectly  corresponding  in  shape  and  size  with  the  artificial  depressions 
of  the  cup-stones.  The  cavity  served  to  receive  a  portion  of  the  liquid  paint 
prepared  in  the  mortar.  Such  at  least  was  the  account  given  to  Mr.  Ste- 
venson by  the  Tesuque  Indians.     They  probably  poured  into  the  cavity  a 

"  The  number  of  cups  in  tlie  specimens  obtained  by  Mr.  Stevenson  varies  between  two  and  five. 


48  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

small  quantity  of  the  fluid  pigment,  in  order  to  use  it  freed  from  the  par- 
ticles of  coloring  mineral  substance  remaining  in  the  mortar.* 

These  two  illustrations  of  the  use  of  paint-cups  among  Indians  of  our 
time  certainly  afford  no  direct  evidence  that  the  cup-stones  in  question  were 
made  to  serve  in  a  similar  manner,  though  they  certainly  heighten  the 
probability  of  svich  an  application. 

Tlie  first  notice  of  an  American  cup-stone,  I  believe,  is  contained  in 
"The  Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  by  Squier  and  Davis, 
the  well-known  work  published  in  1848  as  the  first  volume  of  Smithsonian 
Contributions  to  Knowledge.  On  page  206  (Fig.  \)2)  a  sandstone  block, 
said  to  have  been  found  in  one  of  the  mounds  of  Ohio,  is  figured.  The 
block,  weighing  between  thirty  and  forty  pounds,  exhibited  on  its  surface 
a  number  of  cups  of  different  sizes,  resembling,  as  the  authors  state,  in  all 
respects  those  in  work-blocks  of  coppersmiths,  in  which  plates  of  metal 
are  hammered  to  give  them  convexity.  Hence  it  appeared  to  them  prob- 
able that  the  block  had  been  used  in  the  manufacture  of  such  concavo- 
convex  discs  of  native  copper  as  are  sometimes  met  with  in  the  mounds  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  While  living  in  New  York,  I  had  often  occasion  to 
see  a  fragment  of  this  block  in  the  collection  of  Dr.  E.  H.  Davis,  and  a 
careful  examination  of  the  relic  made  it  evident  to  me  that  the  cavities  had 
not  been  used  as  Messrs.  Squier  and  Davis  supposed.  By  the  sale  of  the 
Davis  collection,  which  comprised  the  bulk  of  the  mound-relics  obtained 
by  the  two  explorers,  to  the  late  Mr.  William  Black  more,  the  fragment  in 
question  was  transferred  to  the  Blackmore  Museum,  in  Salisbury,  England, 
and  Mr.  E.  T.  Stevens  has  since  described  it  as  follows : — 

"The  oblong  fragment  in  the  Blackmore  collection  measures  six  inches 
by  eight,  and  has  upon  it  three  perfect  detached  cups,  two  cups  which  are 
confluent,  portions  of  three  finished  cups,  one  half  finished,  and  several 
which  have  been  commenced.  It  may  be  well  to  remark  that  these  'cups' 
are  oval,  there  being  a  diff"erence  in  the  two  diameters  of  about  one-eighth 
of  an  inch.  They  measure  in  their  greater  diameter  about  one  inch  and  a 
half,  and  are  about  seven-eighths  of  an  inch  in  depth.     Judging  from  the 

"  lu  painting  pottery,  etc.,  they  apply  the  color  with  a  brush  stripped  from  the  leaves  of  the 
yucca  plant. 


BAU.J  NORTH  AMERICAN  CUP-STONES.  49 

engraving  in  the  'Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,'  the  cups 
upon  the  original  mass  were  not  all  of  the  same  size.  One  corner  of  the 
fragment  indicates  that  it  has  been  exposed  to  the  action  of  fire.  Squier 
and  Davis  have  suggested  that  these  cups  were  used  in  hammering  plates 
of  copper  into  the  convex  form  needed  for  making  bosses.  The  circum- 
stances that  two  of  the  cups  are  confluent,  that  the  surface  of  the  block 
has  not  been  smoothed,  and  that  there-  is  no  evidence  of  bruising  from 
hammering,  all  militate  against  the  idea  that  this  block  was  used,  or  was 
even  intended  to  be  used,  as  an  anvil."* 

Of  late  years  Colonel  Charles  Whittlesey  has  devoted  special  attention 
to  cup-stones.  According  to  his  statement,  they  occur  quite  frequently  in 
Northern  Ohio,  more  particularly  in  the  valley  of  the  Cuyahoga  River ;  but 
he  informs  me  by  letter  that,  to  his  knowledge,  none  have  been  obtained 
from  the  numerous  mounds  of  Ohio.  He  brings  the  cup-stones  in  connec- 
tion with  the  spinning  process  of  the  natives,  supposing  the  cavities  had 
served  as  sockets  in  which  spindles  were  made  to  revolve,  and  hence  he 
calls  the  stones  "  spindle-socket- stones."t  I  must  confess  that  I  cannot 
share  Colonel  Whittlesey's  opinion,  in  view  of  the  absence  of  spindle- 
whorls  in  those  parts  of  the  United  States  where  cup-stones  thus  far  have 
been  found.  If  spindle-whorls  had  been  in  use  among  the  formei-  inhab- 
itants of  this  country,  it  is  very  probable  that,  in  conformity  with  their 
well-known  taste,  they  would  have  made  them  of  stone  or  clay,  and  in  that 
case  they  would  be  as  abundant  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  United  States  as 
they  are  in  Europe,  where  the  practice  of  spinning  by  means  of  this  simple 
contrivance  dates  as  far  back  as  the  neolithic  period.J  Adair,  it  is  true,  in 
describing  the  mode  of  weaving  in  vogue  among  the  Southern  Indians 
(Muskokis,  etc.),  speaks  of  an  apparatus  which  may  have  been  a  spindle. 
"Formerly,"  he  observes,  "the  Indians  made  very  handsome  carpets.  They 
have  a  wild  hemp  that  grows  about  six  feet  high,  in  open,  rich,  level  lands, 
and  which  usually  ripens  in  July.  It  is  plenty  on  our  frontier  settlements. 
When  it  is  fit  for  use,  they  pull,  steep,  peel,  and  beat  it;  and  the  old  women 

'Stevens:  Flint  Chips;  London,  1670,  p.  486. 

t Whittlesey :  Ancient  Earth  Forts  of  the  Cnyahoga  Valley,  Ohio;  Cleveland,  1871,  p.  33. 
X  It  may  be  supposed  that  wherever  spindle-whorls  were  employed  in  prehistoric  times,  each 
woman  and  girl  possessed  at  least  one  of  these  utensils. 
4  L  S 


50  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHEll  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

spill  it  off  the  distaffs  with  wooden  machines,  having  some  day  on  the  middle 
of  them  to  hasten  the  motion.  When  the  coarse  thread  is  prepared,  they 
put  it  into  a  frame  about  six  feet  square,  and  instead  of  a  shuttle  they  thrust 
through  the  thread  with  a  long  cane,  having  a  large  string  through  the  web, 
which  they  shift  at  every  second  course  of  the  thread  When  they  have 
thus  finished  their  arduous  labour,  they  paint  each  side  of  the  carpet  with 
such  figures  of  various  colours  as  their  fruitful  imaginations  devise,  particu- 
larly the  images  of  those  birds  and  beasts  they  are  acquainted  with,  and 
likewise  of  themselves,  acting  in  their  social  and  martial  stations."*  Had 
the  contrivances,  called  "machines"  by  Adair,  been  real  spindles,  he  proba- 
bly would  have  recognized  them  as  such,  as  he  undoubtedly  had  witnessed 
their  use  in  Great  Britain,  which  country  he  left  during  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  centuiy,  and  where  spinning  with  distaff  and  spindle  has  not  yet 
entirely  fallen  into  disuse  in  our  time. 

Certain  Indian  tribes  in  remote  western  districts,  the  Navajos  and 
Pueblo  Indians,  for  instance,  use  at  the  present  time  spindles  for  spinning 
the  cotton  and  sheeps'  wool  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  blankets  and 
other  textile  articles.  Their  whorls  are  discs  of  wood,  stone,  bone,  horn, 
and  burned  clay.  The  archaeological  collection  of  the  United  States 
National  Museum  contains  no  North  American  object  of  stone  or  clay, 
found  north  of  Mexico,  in  which  I  can  recognize  a  spindle-whorl.  In  Mexico, 
it  is  well  known,  spindles  were  in  general  use,  and  the  whorls  {malacatl) 
are  among  the  common  objects  seen  in  collections  of  Aztec  antiquities. 
They  are  represented  in  the  National  Museum  by  many  specimens,  all 
made  of  terra-cotta,  and  in  some  instances  tastefully  ornamented,  like  the 
originals  of  Figures  40  and  41,  which  were  obtained  by  the  late  Colonel 
Brantz  Mayer  at  Tezcaco,  and  presented  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in 
1 862.  The  Mexican  metliod  of  spinning  is  illustrated  by  designs  in  the 
Mendoza  Codex,  published  by  Lord  Kingsborough. 

It  doubtless  will  be  a  matter  of  great  interest  to  archasologists.  both  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe,  to  learn  that  large  cupped  blocks,  fully  resem- 
bling those  of  the  Old  World,  have  of  late  years  been  observed  in  the 

"Adair:  The  History  of  the  American  Indians;  London,  1775,  p.  422. — The  remains  of  textile 
fabrics  having  been  fonud  in  mounds  of  this  country,  it  follows  that  some  sort  of  weaving  was  prac- 
tised hero  in  times  long  past. 


KAU.i  NORTH  AMERICAN  CUPPED  BOULDERS.  51 

United  States.  As  yet  a  few  only  are  known,  but  ere  long,  I  am  confident, 
the  existence  of  others  will  be  ascertained.  Whenever  investigators  have 
their  attention  drawn  to  a  new  class  of  antiquities,  they  endeavor  to  find 
them,  and  are  usually  successful  in  their  efforts. 

Fig.  42  shows  the  appearance  of  a  cupped  block  preserved  in  the 
building  of  the  Society  of  Natural  History  in  Cincinnati,  to  which  associa- 
tion it  was  presented  by  the  discoverer,  Dr.  H.  H.  Hill,  a  resident  of  that 
city.  His  letters  and  a  communication  from  Professor  J.  Mickelborough, 
also  of  Cincinnati,  enable  me  to  give  the  following  account:  — 

The  block  was  found  by  Dr.  Hill  during  an  archaeological  excursion,  in 
May,  1874,  a  mile  and  a  half  above  Ironton,  Lawrence  County,  Ohio,  near 
the  bank  of  the  Ohio.  It  was,  indeed,  washed  by  the  water  of  that  river, 
and  covered  with  debris  that  had  fallen  from  the  upper  portion  of  the  bank, 
from  which  latter  circumstance  Dr.  Hill  concluded  it  had  also  rolled  from 
this  higher  level  to  the  lower  margin  of  the  I'iver-bank.  Having  bought 
the  block  from  the  owner  of  the  land,  he  had  it  removed  from  its  position 
and  conveyed  by  steamboat  to  Cincinnati,  where  it  arrived  in  June,  1874. 
In  the  same  year  he  presented  it  to  the  Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  His- 
tory. The  block  or  boulder,  wliich  consists  of  coarse-grained  dark-gray 
sandstone,  is  three  feet  long,  two  feet  and  seven  inches  wide,  and  a  foot 
and  a  half  high,  and  measures  eight  feel  seven  inches  in  circumference.  It 
weighs  between  a  thousand  and  twelve  hundred  pounds.  Accoi'ding  to  Dr. 
Hill,  the  surface  of  the  stone  shows  one  hundred  and  sixteen  cups,  either 
rounded  or  conical  in  shape.*  Professor  Mickelborough  mentions  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  cups,  which  he  describes  as  being  circular  in  outline,  and 
apparently  produced  by  attrition  with  some  blunt  implement.  The  average 
diameter  of  the  cups  is  an  inch  and  a  half,  and  their  depth  about  half  an 
inch ;  but  some  are  five-eighths  of  an  inch  deep,  and  others  again  more 
shallow.     The   inside  of  the  cups,  he  says,  is  rather  smooth,  yet  not  as 

*  For  photographs  after  which  the  illustration  was  executed,  I  am  indebteil  to  Dr.  Hill  aud  Judge 
II.  F.  Force,  of  Cincinnati.  I  had  the  stone  drawn  on  wood  in  lead-pencil,  and  before  haudiug  over 
the  block  to  the  wood-engraver,  I  sent  a  photograph  of  the  drawing  to  Judge  Force  for  comparison  with 
the  original.  He  replied  (January  16,  1881)  as  follows:  ''I  think  this  does  very  well  as  a  representa- 
tion of  the  cup-stone.  Of  course,  there  is  an  exaggerated  distinctness  in  the  cups — that  is,  the  shadow 
in  the  hollows  is  not  so  distinct,  at  least  in  our  sunlight,  as  it  is  in  the  picture." — I  hope  the  slightly 
exaggerated  distinctness  of  the  cups,  alluded  to  by  Judge  Force,  will  bo  deemed  allowable,  the  more  so 
aa  the  boulder  was  exposed  to  the  action  of  water,  and  formerly  doubtless  exhibited  more  distinct  cups 


52  C DP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

smooth  as  the  cavities  of  another  smaller  specimen  in  the  collection  of  the 
Society  of  Natural  History.  In  one  cup,  he  further  observes,  is  a  central 
depression  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  depth  and  of  equal  diameter. 
This  central  pit  seems  to  have  been  made  by  means  of  some  sharp-pointed 
instrument.  But  for  this  peculiarity  the  cup  resembles  the  others  excavated 
on  the  block.  To  judge  from  Dr.  Hill's  description,  the  feature  just  alluded 
to  is  not  confined  to  a  single  cup,  but  is  likewise  noticed  in  othei's. 

On  one  side  of  the  block,  says  Professor  Mickelborough,  are  some 
grooves  four  or  five  inches  long,  and  likewise  of  artificial  origin.  They 
have  the  appearance  of  being  worn  down  by  rubbing  continuously  in  one 
direction.  The  diameter  of  the  grooves  is  equal  to  that  of  the  cups,  inso- 
much that  a  cylindrical  stone  applied  in  the  direction  of  its  longitudinal 
axis  would  have  produced  the  grooves,  and  its  end,  by  rotation,  the  cup- 
shaped  cavities. 

The  correspondents  who  have  furnished  me  with  the  material  for  this 
description  offer  no  definite  opinions  as  to  the  use  of  this  remarkable  cup- 
stone.  Dr.  Hill  can  think  of  no  practical  purpose  to  which  the  cups  might 
have  been  applied  by  those  who  excavated  them,  unless  they  served  "as 
means  for  imparting  information  to  their  fi'iends."  Similar  views,  as  will 
be  seen,  have  been  advanced  in  Europe  with  reference  to  the  large  cup- 
stones  in  that  part  of  the  world. 

Dr.  Hill  speaks  of  .two  much  larger  sandstone  boulders,  one  with 
twenty-nine  and  the  other  with  thirty-seven  cups,  which  he  saw  near  the 
bank  of  the  Ohio,  a  few  miles  below  Manchester,  in  Adams  County,  Ohio. 
No  further  particulars  as  to  their  appearance  are  given ;  but  Dr.  Hill 
intends  to  examine  them  again.  lie  thinks  it  very  difficult  to  remove 
them. 

In  October,  1878,  the  Rev.  John  J.  McCook,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
addressed  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  a  letter  in  which  he  describes  a 
cupped  granite  boulder  of  large  size,  lying  on  the  edge  of  the  cliff  not  far 
from  his  cottage  at  Niantic,  in  New  London  County,  Connecticut.  A  scale- 
drawing  of  the  boulder,  hei'e  reproduced  in  half-size,  and  without  any 
artistic  embellishment,  as  Fig.  43,  accompanied  his  account,  of  which  1 
give  the  following  extract  almost  in  his  own  words. 


EAiT.)  NORTH  AMERICAN  CUPPED  BOULDERS.  53 

When  Mr.  McCook  became  cognizant  of  the  existence  of  the  block,  it 
had  been  only  five  years  in  its  present  position.  For  several  genei-ations 
it  had  formed  part  of  the  foundation  of  a  wall,  and  when  the  wall  was 
removed,  it  was  found  almost  imbedded  in  the  soil.  At  that  time  he  did 
not  notice  the  peculiar  markings  upon  it;  but  from  the  location  of  the  moss 
which  covers  all  below  the  dotted  line  ab  c  in  the  sketch,  and  is  entirely 
absent  upon  what  is  now  the  upper  surface,  he  concluded  that  the  stone 
was  overset  in  the  removal.  Not  far  from  this  boulder  are  several  others, 
one  of  them  weighing  many  tons,  and  nicely  poised  upon  the  very  edge  of 
the  rocky  cliff.  Yet  he  searched  in  vain  for  any  marks  upon  them,  bearing 
the  slightest  resemblance  to  those  uj^on  the  subject  of  his  sketch.  His  atten- 
tion was  first  drawn  to  these  peculiar  marks  five  or  six  years  ago,  while 
visiting  the  neighboring  beach,  the  path  leading  there  passing  close  by  the 
cupped  boulder.  His  first  theory  in  regard  to  them  was,  that  they  might 
be  the  work  of  the  Niantic  Indians,  a  small  tribe,  extinct  since  1870,  to 
whom  all  the  land  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Niantic  once  be- 
longed. But  from  the  beginning  he  was  at  a  loss  to  understand  for  what 
purpose  they  could  have  made  these  cup-shaped  cavities.  He  thought  they 
were  too  small  to  have  served  as  mortars,  and  too  symmetrical  in  their 
arrangement  to  have  been  used  for  grinding  down  the  ends  of  pestles.  In 
the  meantime,  however,  Mr.  McCook  read  in  the  "Journal  de  Geneve"  a 
review  of  some  publications  on  cup-stones,  and  hence  it  occurred  to  him 
that  the  boulder  under  notice  "  might  be  one  of  that  system  of  marked 
stones  which  are  found  all  over  the  world,  and  are  thought  to  have  some 
relation  to  the  religious  life  of  primitive  man." 

The  cups  belonging  to  the  central  group,  II,  III,  IV,  and  V,  are  strik- 
ingly regular  and  smooth.  Nr.  I  is  much  less  regular,  and  Nr.  VI  is  so 
shallow  and  irregular  that  Mr.  McCook  discovered  it  only  on  close  exam- 
ination, and,  indeed,  is  doubtful  whether  it  deserves  to  be  indicated  as 
belonging  to  the  same  class  with  the  rest.  The  dimensions  of  the  cups  are 
as  follows : — 

I.  Diameter,  2|  inches.  Depth,  ^  inch. 

II.  Diameter,  3i  inches.  Depth,  "^  inch. 

III.  Diameter,  3^  inches.  Depth,  ,'?  inch. 


54  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTUEES. 

IV.  Diameter,  3|  inches.  Depth,  }|  inch. 

V.  Diameter,  2|  inches.  Depth,  j|  inch. 

VI.  Diameter,  i;-?X2|  inches.     Depth,  ^  inch. 

The  centre  of  III  is  a  trifle  out  of  the  line  between  the  centres  of  II 
and  IV. 

Of  the  lines  or  f^rooves  upon  the  side  of  the  boulder,  the  irregular 
curved  one  may  simply  mark  the  boundary  of  erosion  caused  by  the  ele- 
ments, and  the  straight  ones  may  be  nothing  but  common  striae.  The 
stone  is  a  hard  granite  of  tolerably  fine  texture.  Its  present  iipper  surface  is 
clean  and  smooth,  and  entirely  free  from  moss.  The  portion  of  the  side 
below  the  dotted  line  in  the  sketch  and  tlie  present  under-surface,  as  far  as 
Mr."  McCook  could  ascertain  without  turning  the  stone  quite  over,  are  cov- 
ered with  moss.  The  boulder  measures  nearly  six  feet  and  a  half  in  its 
greatest  dimension. 

So  far  Mr.  McCook.  It  becomes  evident  by  his-description  that  the 
cavities  on  the  Niantic  boulder  are  somewhat  diffei*ent  from  those  on  the 
Cincinnati  block,  and  possibly  may  have  been  designed  for  another  pur- 
pose. Rounded  stones  with  single  cavities  not  larger  and  deeper  than  those 
described  by  Mr.  McCook  are  not  rare  in  the  United  States,  and  were 
evidently  used  as  mortars ;  and  larger  cavities  Avhich  have  served  for  the 
same  purpose  are  excavated  on  rocks  in  situ  in  certain  parts  of  this  country, 
as  I  shall  have  occasion  to  state  more  in  detail  hereafter.  However,  not 
having  seen  the  Niantic  boulder,  I  will  refrain  from  expressing  with  any 
degree  of  positiveness  an  opinion  at  variance  with  Mr.  McCook's  view. 

For  the  present  my  information  with  regard  to  large  cupped  stones  or 
boulders  in  the  United  States  goes  no  further.  The  discovery  of  others  is 
a  mere  question  of  time.     They  will  be  found  when  properly  looked  for. 

As  early  as  1805,  Captain  William  Dupaix,  charged  by  the  King  of  Spain 
with  an  exploration  of  the  antiquities  of  Mexico,  saw  not  far  from  Orizaba 
what  has  been  thought  to  be  a  cup-stone.  Many  years  afterward  a  dupli- 
cate of  his  report  and  copies  of  the  designs  made  by  his  artist,  Castafieda, 
were  published  in  Lord  Kingsborough's  "Mexican  Antiquities"  (Volumes 
IV,  V,  and  VI,  1830-3 1).  A  few  years  later,  in  1834,  the  work  entitled 
"Antiquit^s  Mexicaines"  (by  Alexandre  Lenoir)  was  published  at  Paris. 


EAir.]  NORTH  AMERICAN  CUPPED  BOULDERS.  55 

It  embodies  Cajjtaiii  Dupaix's  original  report  witli  illustrations  made  di-  ye*^'^-P(/^^ 

recti}'  after  Castaneda's  drawings.     Both  publications  give  a  representation  S(^'iJ>^d^^< 

of  the  stone  in  question;  but  these  designs  are  so  unlike  each  other  that  it'f?^/'rt<^^V. 

is  impossible  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  its  character.     Fig.  44  is  a  copy  of  lyil^h^'''  • 

Lord  Kingsborough's  illustration.*     The  figure  shows  fourteen  well-defined  {"^^ 

cup-shaped  cavities,  perfectly  resembling  those  on  the  stones  heretofore  itilStUvt-ftr  *^>*^^'-'  *  '" 

described.     In  the  later  work— "AntiquitciS  Mexicaines"— which  might  be  "^'^^'''f'^l^'^'^'^w*^ 

supposed  to  be  the  more  reliable  one,  the  stone  is  figured  on  a  larger  scale,t  cio-'v^C  UU)u'c^"-^  -  h 

but  bears  only  in  outline  a  resemblance  to  Kingsborough's   illustration.  it^U'tfi^i^  f^"  "^  "^ 

Instead  of  distinct  cups  it  merely  shows  a  number  of  irregular  cavities,  L^^  JU4J,.^p-fJ^'^ . 

totally  different  from  the  cups  indicated  on  Kingsborough's  plate.     Hence  Yu\J''A^f^ '^ '^^ 

there  remains  a  doubt  as  to  the  real  appearance  of  the  stone,  which  will  ^  A\tj(/rfr>'^   lry>^v 

not  be  removed  before  it  has  been  examined  again  by  some  explorer.     If 

translate  the  description  of  the  stone,  as  given  by  Dupaix  in  "Antiquitds 

Mexicaines": — 

"From  this  place  (Orizaba)  we  proceeded  toward  the  bridge  across  the 
river  Blanco,  sixteen  leagues  southeast  of  the  city,  in  order  to  examine  a 
rock  called  TeoloUnga.  It  is  spherical  in  shape,  very  hard,  of  a  bluish-black 
color,  and  emits  no  fire  when  struck  Avith  a  steel.  It  has  been  skillfully 
placed  in  the  midst  of  an  extensive  savanna.  It  measures  about  twenty- 
two  feet  and  a  half  in  circumference  and  a  little  more  than  six  feet  in  diam- 
eter. This  stone,  poised  upon  its  axis  by  those  who  formerly  fashioned  it, 
has  the  peculiarity  that,  when  touched  only  with  the  little  finger,  it  moves 
and  continues  to  vibrate  for  some  time;  while  it  remains  apparently  motion- 
less Avhen  a  greater  force  is  applied.  On  its  sui'face  are  seen  some  circular 
holes  {trous  circulaires)  of  little  depth,  which  can  hold  water  in  seasons  of 
rain.  It  appears  to  have  served  in  olden  times  as  a  boundary  or  land-mark 
(de  borne  on  de  limite),  for  there  is  another  one  at  a  distance  of  two  leagues 
from  it."  J 


*  Vol.  IV,  The  Monuments  of  New  Spain,  by  M.  Dup.aix,  Part  I,  Plate  IV,  Fig.  10. 

+  AtlaS;  Prcmifero  Partie,  Planche  VIII. 

{Antiquitds  Mexicaines;  Kel.ation  de  la  Premifcre  Expedition  du  Capitaine  Dupaix  en  1S05,  Vol. 
I,  p.  7. — For  tlie  sake  of  comparison  I  copy  here  the  less  complete  description  published  by  Loid  Kings- 
borough: — "From  hence  (Orizaba)  we  went  to  the  bridge  of  the  river  Blanco,  about  forty-eij:ht  mi'.es 
south-east  of  Orizabii,  in  search  of  a  large  stone  called  Teololinga.  This  stone  is  spherical  in  ite  Ibrm, 
very  hard  (though  it  will  notemit  fire  when  struck  by  the  steel),  and  of  a  dark-blue  colour.  It  hasevi- 
dcnfly  boon  wrought  into  its  present  shape,  and  placed  in  the  middle  of  a  spacious  plain,  by  the  .incient 


56  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

I  am  not  aware  that  other  stones  of  analogous  character  have  been 
noticed  in  Mexico ;  nor  have  I  thus  far  obtained  precise  information  as  to 
the  occurrence  of  cupped  stones  or  boulders  in  parts  of  the  American  con- 
tinent which  are  situated  south  of  Mexico.* 

In  connection  with  North  American  cup-stones  should  be  mentioned 
boulders  or  rocks  with  an  artificial  cavity,  or  with  cavities,  serving  for  the 
trituration  of  grain,  and  thus  forming  what  might  be  called  stationary  mor- 
tars. Their  occurrence  extends  over  a  large  portion  of  North  America; 
but  there  is  considerable  diiference  in  the  character  of  the  cavities,  as  the 
following  statements  will  show. 

Colonel  Jones  saw  in  the  middle  and  upper  parts  of  Georgia  "large 
boulders — some  of  them  waist-high — permanent  in  their  location,  whose 
tops  had  been  hollowed  out  for  mortars.  These  cavities  were  circular  in 
form,  and  capable  of  holding  a  half  peck  or  more.  They  may  be  regai-ded 
as  public  property,  and  afford  proof  of  the  stability  of  the  agricultural  popu- 
lation by  which  they  were  used."t  In  historical  times,  however,  the  south- 
ern tribes  to  whom  Colonel  Jones  refers  are  known  to  have  generally  used 
wooden  mortars  for  pounding  maize.  Adair  alludes  to  their  use  and  describes 
the  method  of  hollowing  them  out  by  means  of  fire.J  Hunter  notices  the 
wooden  mortars  of  the  Indians  among  whom  he  lived;  but  "in  addition," 
he  says,  "each  village  has  one  or  two  large  stone  mortars  for  pounding 
corn:  they  are  placed  in  a  central  situation,  are  public  property,  and  are 
used  in  rotation  by  the  different  families."§ 

inhabitants  of  the  country.  It  is  so  artfully  balanced  upon  its  axis  as  to  revolve  at  the  slightest  touch 
of  the  finger;  but  if  a  greater  force  be  used  it  will  stand  without  the  least  apparent  motion.  Its  sur- 
face contains  some  boles  capable  of  holding  a  small  quantity  of  water.  It  appears  to  have  anciently 
served  as  a  land-mark.  There  is  another  of  these  stones  to  the  east,  about  six  miles  distant." — Vol.  VI, 
The  Monuments  of  New  Spain,  by  M.  Dupair,  j).  425. 

*I  quote,  however,  from  the  "Mat^riaux"  (l>-'67,  p.  398)  the  following  note,  addressed  to  M. 
Gabriel  de  Mortillet  by  Professor  P.  Strobel,  and  dated  Buenos  Ayres,  May  26,  1866:— 

"Aprfes  les  articles  de  Morlot,  Aymard,  Simonin  et  Bouvet,  sur  les  picrrcs  il  ^cuelles  ct  b,  bassius, 
11  ne  sera  pas  sans  int^ret  pour  vous  d'apprendre  qu'on  en  trouve  de  semblables  dans  la  Sierra  de  San 
Luis.  On  y  voit  do  trfes-nombreux  bassius  creusds  dans  la  roche,  de  diverses  dimensions.  lis  ont 
servi  aux  ludiens  pour  (Scraser  et  broyer  les  fruits  et  les  graines,  ct  peut-etre  meme,  ^  nne  dpoque  moins 
ancienne,  pour  Iriturcr  le  mineral  auriffere  do  ces  montagnes.  II  existe  aussi  des  pierres  ft  bassins  dans 
les  montagnes  de  Mendoza,  datant  de  1'  ^poque  des  Incas.  Ces  divers  bassins  ont  pu  servir^trois  usages 
bien  ditfiSrents:  rdligieux,  gastronomique  et  mdtallnrgique." 

t  Jones  (Charles  C):  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians;  p.  313. 

t  Adair:  The  History  of  the  American  Indians;  p.  416. 

^Hunter:  Manners  and  Customs  of  Several  Indian  Tribes  located  west  of  the  Mississippi ;  Phila- 
delphia, 1823,  p.  269. 


KAU]       NOETH  AMERICAN  BOULDEES  WITH  MOETAE-CAVITIES.  57 

A  boulder  forn)erly  used  as  a  mortar  is  thus  described  by  Professor 
Samuel  Aughey,  of  the  University  of  Nebraska: — "Four  miles  northwest  of 
Nebraska  City,  on  the  farm  of  Hon.  J.  F.  Kinney,  is'  a  granitic  boulder  as 
large  as  a  small  house,  on  whose  top  smooth  holes  have  been  worn  by  the 
Indians  in  grinding  or  pounding  corn.  This  boulder  is  imbedded  in  a  Loess 
deposit,  through  which  it  extends  from  the  Drift  below."*  Upon  inquiry 
by  letter,  I  learned  fi-om  Professor  Aughey  that  the  most  conspicuous  of  the 
cavities  measures  fourteen  inches  in  diameter  and  six  in  depth  Its  inside, 
he  says,  is  worn  as  smooth  as  glass.  The  other  cavities  on  this  boulder  are 
shallow  and  faint  compared  to  this  one. 

In  the  Sierra  Waco,  in  the  extreme  northwestern  corner  of  Texas,  about 
thirty  miles  east  of  El  Paso,  State  of  Chihuahua,  Mexico,  the  Hon.  John 
R.  Bartlett  noticed  "an  overhanging  rock  extending  for  some  distance,  the 
whole  surface  of  which  is  covered  with  rude  paintings  and  sculptures,  rep- 
resenting men,  animals,  birds,  snakes,  and  fantastic  figui'es. On  the 

shelving  portion  of  the  place  in  question  are  several  circular  holes  in  the 
solid  granite,  from  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  deep,  which  the  Indians  have 
made  and  used  as  mortars  for  pounding  their  corn  in ;  similar  ones  being 
found  all  over  the  country  where  the  aborigines  have  had  their  habitations.''f 
Afterward,  while  proceeding  in  Chihuahua  from  Correlitos  to  El  Paso,  Mr. 
Bartlett  saw  a  smooth  rock  covering  about  half  an  acre,  to  the  right  of  the 
road.  In  this  rock  he  counted  twenty-six  cavities  within  a  few  feet  of  each 
other.  They  were  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  deep  and  about  six  in 
diameter,  and  had  been  dug  out  to  serve  as  mortars.J  In  a  letter  addressed 
to  me  he  adds : — "I  remember  that  there  was  at  that  place  a  great  quantity 
of  flint  chippings,  broken  arrow  and  spear-heads,  fragments  of  pottery,  etc., 
showing  that  the  Indians  had  spent  much  time  here  in  making  their  stone 
implements." 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Stephen  Bowers,  at  present  residing  in  Clinton, 
Wisconsin,  for  the  following  account  of  rocks  with  mortar- cavities  seen  by 
him  in  California.     He  says : — 

"  These  are  not  unfrequently  met  with  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  Cali- 

♦Anghey :  Sketches  of  the  Physical  Geography  and  Geology  of  Nebraska ;  Omaha,  Nebraska,  1880, 
p.  256. 

t Bartlett:  Personal  Narrative  of  Explorations  and  Incidents  in  Texas,  New  Mexico,  California, 
Sonora,  and  Chihuahua,  etc. ;  New  York,  1854,  Vol.  I,  p.  170. 

U6i(?.,  Vol.  II,  p.  370. 


58  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAX  SCULPTURES. 

fornia.  I  have  also  seen  them  in  Napa  Valley,  fifty  miles  north  of  San 
Francisco;  indeed,  I  deem  it  safe  to  say  they  may  be  found  in  nearly  every 
portion  of  California,  especially  on  and  near  the  old  village  sites  once 
inhabited  by  the  less  nomadic  tribes. 

"  But  the  most  remarkable  of  these  excavations  I  discovered  on  the 
summit  of  the  Santa  Inez  range  of  mountains,  in  Santa  Barbara  County, 
about  one  mile  west  of  the  stage-road-crossing,  and  at  an  elevation  of  2,5()0 
feet  above  the  sea-level.  Here  is  an  open  space  of  nearly  level  land,  sev- 
eral acres  in  extent,  where  springs  of  cool  sweet  water  rise,  and,  uniting, 
send  a  sparkling  rivulet  down  the  mountain-side.  Elevations,  covered 
with  timber,  form  this  into  an  amphitheater,  while  mountain-peaks  rise  in 
every  direction.  In  this  romantic  spot  the  aborigines  founded  a  village, 
which  must  have  been  occupied  for  a  great  length  of  time.  Although  the 
place  is  now  enclosed  as  a  field,  and  the  site  of  the  old  village  .has  been 
ploughed  and  tilled  by  white  men,  yet  the  circular  depressions  indicating  the 
dwelling-places  of  the  Indians  are  plainly  seen.  Marine  shells,  brought 
from  the  ocean,  six  or  seven  miles  distant,  are  scattered  over  the  entire 
surface  of  the  old  village  site,  with  bones  and  other  kitchen  debris.  Near 
this  village  site  is  a  sort  of  natural  grotto  in  the  solid  rock,  covered  with 
rude  paintings  of  a  very  interesting  character,  which  probably  record  the 
more  important  events  in  the  lives  of  the  villagers. 

"Within  the  confines  of  the  old  town  are  two  large  boulders  of  sand- 
stone, into  which  conical  excavations  have  been  made,  and  used  as  mortars 
for  triturating  grain,  acorns,  etc.;  also  cup-shaped  depressions,  the  purpose 
of  which  is  not  clear  to  my  mind.  The  largest  of  these  boulders  (Fig.  45) 
is  twenty-five  feet  in  length,  by  about  ten  feet  in  width,  and  shows  twenty- 
five  excavations,  measuring  from  six  to  twenty-six  inches  in  diameter  at  the 
top,  and  from  five  to  sixteen  inches  in  depth.  The  average  width  of  these 
mortar-cavities  is  a  little  over  thirteen  inches,  and  the  depth  something  more 
than  eleven  inches.  The  smallest  is  six  inches  in  diameter  and  five  inches 
deep,  while  the  largest  is  twenty-six  inches  in  diameter  and  sixteen  inches 
in  depth.  In  one  instance  a  wide  groove  is  cut  between  two  of  these  exca- 
vations, one  being  probably  used  for  pulverizing  the  grain,  and  the  other 
as  a  receptacle  for  the  meal.     In  another  instance  two  of  the  cavities  are 


KAU.i        NOETH  AMERICAN  BOULDERS  WITH  MORTAR-OAVITIES.  59 

worn  until  they  meet.  With  one  exception,  these  mortar-shaped  excavations 
are  circular,  and  nearly  as  perfect,  usually,  as  if  laid  out  with  dividers. 
The  exception  is  an  oblong  excavation,  the  greater  axis  measuring  seventeen 
inches,  the  shorter  about  eight  inches. 

"The  boulder  has  doubtless  been  used  for  this  purpose  a  great  length 
of  time,  indicating  the  comparative  stability  of  the  ti'ibe  once  living  here. 
I  was  unable  to  find  the  pestles  which  were  used  in  these  mortars.  It  was 
the  practice  of  the  Santa  Barbara  Indians  to  bury  pestles  and  other  objects 
with  the  dead,  and  I  presume  there  was  no  exception  in  this  case. 

"  The  smaller  boulder  measures  about  eleven  feet  by  nine  and  a  half 
on  the  surface,  rising  to  the  height  of  six  feet  above  the  earth.  It  contains 
eleven  depressions,  two  or  three  of  which  seem  to  have  been  used  as 
mortars ;  but  the  others,  which  are  quite  shallow,  probably  served  some 
other  purpose. 

"  In  the  canons  and  on  the  foot-hills  along  the  Santa  Inez  range,  I  have 
fi'equently  met  with  boulders  containing  from  one  to  three  or  four  mortar- 
excavations." 

It  appears  to  me  that  some  of  the  boulders  and  rocks  called  pierres  a 
bassins  by  French,  and  Muldensteine  by  German  archaeologists,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  stationary  mortars.  Their  resemblance  to  landoubted  American 
mortars  of  this  kind  at  least  would  lead  me  to  that  conclusion.  M.  Morlot, 
for  instance,  describes  such  a  block  near  the  new  road  passing  over  Mount 
Simplon  (Canton  of  Valais).  It  has  the  shape  of  a  rough  column  or  a  trunk 
of  a  tree,  is  one  meter  and  five  centimeters  high,  and  ninety  centimeters  in 
diameter.  In  the  centre  of  its  upper  surface  is  a  cavity  of  twenty-one 
centimeters  diameter  and  nine  centimeters  depth.  There  are  tln-ee  smaller 
cavities  on  the  same  surface.*  The  height  of  the  block  and  the  dimensions 
of  the  cavity  certainly  favor  my  view.  Though  I  could  fui-nish  many 
similar  examples,  I  confine  myself  to  the  one  just  given,  not  wishing  to 
enlarge  on  a  question  which  must  be  decided  by  European  archaeologists. 

*  Morlot :  Pierres  h,  ficuelles ;  Mat^riaux,  1866,  p.  258.— This  periodical  contains  several  articles 
relating  to  stones  with  cavities,  which  apparently  have  served  as  mortars. — 

In  reading  Dr.  L.  Zapf's  article  "  Die  Muldensteine  des  Fichtelgobirges  "  in  "  Bcitriige  zur  Anthro- 
pologic )ind  Urgeschichte  Bayems  "  (Bd.  Ill,  S.  99),  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  the  cavities  described 
by  him  might  be,  in  part  at  least,  the  mortars  in  which  the  prehistoric  people  of  that  rftgion  pounded 
fruits  or  cereals. 


60  CCrP  SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTTJUES. 

I  can  perceive,  however,  that  their  nomenchiture  in  regard  to  stones  bearing 
cups  and  larger  cavities  is  not  sufficiently  precise.  The  terms  pierres  d 
ccuelles  and  pierres  a  hassins  are  indiscriminately  used,  whereas,  in  my 
opinion,  a  proper  distinction  between  the  two  classes  of  cavities  indicated 
by  them  mig'ht  with  advantage  be  made. 

Since  my  attention  was  directed  to  the  subject  treated  in  these  pages, 
I  liave  examined  many  representations  of  figures  sculptured  or  painted  on 
rocks  in  the  United  States,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  there  occur  among 
them  any  designs  analogous  to  those  of  the  Old  World.  While  engaged 
in  this  investigation,  I  received  from  Dr.  Charles  H.  Stubbs,  of  Wakefield, 
Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  lithographic  representations  of  a  sculpt- 
ured rock,  called  Bald  Friar  Rock,  in  the  Susquehanna  River,  not  far  from 
its  emboguement  into  the  Chesapeake  Bay.*  I  discovered  by  means  of 
the  lithographs  that  several  figures  on  that  rock  recall  certain  types  of  the 
lapidarian  sculptures  of  Great  Britain,  and  mentioned  the  fact  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Professor  Spencer  F.  Baird,  who  there- 
upon instructed  Mr.  F.  G.  Galbraith,  of  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  to 
examine  the  locality  and  to  make  drawings  of  the  figures  in  question.f  His 
report  and  several  communications  from  Dr.  Stubbs  are  embodied  in  the 
following  account : — 

Bald  Fiiar  Rock  is  situated  in  the  Lower  Susquehanna,  in  Cecil 
County,  Maryland,  and  is  about  three-eighths  of  a  mile  distant  from  Bald 
Friar,  a  station  of  the  Columbia  and  Port  Deposit  Railroad.  The  rock 
stands  nearer  the  eastern  than  the  western  bank  of  the  Susquehanna— here 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide — and  its  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river  is  nearly  twelve  miles.  It  rises  from  a  small  island  to  a  height  of 
eight  feet  and  a  few  inches  above  low-water  level,  and  can  be  reached  by 
land  at  very  low  Avater.  According  to  Mr.  Galbraith's  measurement,  the 
rock  was  originally  seventy-one  feet  long  and  ten  feet  wide;  but  only 
sixteen  feet  of  its  eastern  and  seventeen  of  its  western  portion  remain,  the 

*Thesamo  plates  illustrate  now  the  "Second  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania"  (Geology  of 
Lancaster  County,  Harrisbuig,  1880). 

t  Acknowledgments  are  also  duo  to  Dr.  L.  R.  Kirk,  of  Rising  Sun,  Cecil  County,  Maryland,  for  a 
very  good  drawing  of  Bald  Friar  Uoclc,  sent  by  liim  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  It  was  of  great- 
use  as  a  medium  of  comparison. 


RAU]  EOCK-SCULPTURES  IN  MARYLAND.  61 

centre — thirty-eight  feet — having  been  blasted  away  many  years  ago,  and 
the  stone  used  in  the  construction  of  a  shad-fishery.  By  this  process  many 
carvings  were  destroyed,  traces  of  which  Mr.  Galbraith  discovered  upon 
fragments  of  rock  scattered  over  tlie  upper  end  of  the  island.  The  rock 
evidently  was  entirely  covered  with  sculpturings.  A  large  portion  of  its 
northeastern  end  is  becoming  detached  from  the  main  body,  and  will  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years  topple  over  into  the  river,  for  which  reason  Mr. 
Galbraith  was  particularly  anxious  to  trace  all  the  carvings  on  it.  To 
judge  from  a  detached  sculptured  piece  sent  by  Mr.  Galbraith  to  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  the  rock  is  of  a  chloritic  character,  and  consequently 
not  very  hard,  insomuch  that  the  scidpturing  of  the  figures  by  means  of 
pecking  or  punching  with  stone  implements  was  not  a  very  difficult  task. 
All  who  have  examined  the  sculptures  agree  as  to  their  very  ancient  ap- 
pearance. They  are  of  a  heterogeneous  and  peculiar  character,  and  in  many 
respects  unlike  any  rock-cuttings  of  which  I  have  seen  representations. 
There  is,  for  instance,  a  curious  combination  of  straight  and  curved  lines, 
forming  a  lab3ainthic  figure,  which  cannot  be  compared  to  any  known 
object.  In  another  group,  shown  in  Fig.  46,  cup-shaped  depressions,  from 
three-eighths  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  depth,  are  mingled  Avitli  curiously- 
formed  lines,  the  whole  producing  a  semblance  to  characters,  which  the 
makers  certainly  did  not  intend  to  represent.  Rows  of  four,  five  or  more 
parallel,  or  nearly  parallel,  lines  are  not  unfrequent,  and  in  one  instance  a 
design  appears  which  has  been  compared  to  a  gridiron.  Several  of  the 
figures  resemble  a  plant  with  a  median  stem  and  lateral  branches.  The 
most  conspicuous  of  these  carvings  happens  to  be  on  the  slab  forwarded  to 
the  Smithsonian  Institution  by  Mr.  Galbraith,  and  is  here  represented  as 
Fig.  47.  It  measures  two  feet  in  length  and  fifteen  inches  and  a  half  in  its 
largest  width.  The  central  stem  of  the  carving  terminates  in  a  figure  in 
which  a  lively  imagination  might  discover  a  fruit  or  flower.  The  incised 
lines  forming  the  design  are  shallow,  not  exceeding  one-fourth  or  three- 
eighths  of  an  inch  in  depth,  on  an  average  an  inch  wide,  and  betoken  just 
such  skill  in  sculpture  as  might  be  expected  from  a  primitive  people  that 
had  only  tools  of  stone  at  its  command. 

The  northeastern  end  of  the  rock,  the  one  in  danger  of  falling  one  day 


62  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

into  tlie  liver,  is  represented  by  Fig.  48,  after  a  photograph  kindly  loaned 
to  nie  by  Dr.  Stubbs.*  It  shows  four  figures  somewhat  resembling  human 
faces,  and  four  concentric  rings  with  a  cup-shaped  depression  in  the  middle. 
These  circles  appear  foreshortened  in  the  sketch,  but  are  correctly  repre- 
sented in  Fig.  4!»,  in  one-twelfth  of  the  real  size.  This  type,  as  has  been 
seen,  occurs  frequently  among  the  primitive  lapidarian  sculptures  of  Europe; 
but  hardl}'  any  ethnic  significance  can  be  ascribed  to  the  pi'esence  of  the 
same  design  on  Bald  Friar  Rock.  It  is  a  form  which,  on  account  of  its 
simpleness  and  regularity,  doubtless  suggested  itself  to  nations  who  never 
came  in  contact  with  each  other,  and  who  employed  it  either  as  an  orna- 
ment or  for  some  s3'mbolical  purpose.f  Of  far  greater  interest,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  Figures  50  and  51,  carefully  copied  by  Mr.  Galbraith  from  the 
rock  in  the  Susquehanna  Eiver.  Both  consist  of  concentric  rings,  the  outer 
of  which  has  an  appendage  in  the  shape  of  a  long  straight  groove,  a  feature 
wlu'ch  assimilates  these  carvings  in  a  high  degree  to  types  of  the  Old  World 
heretofore  described,  more  especially  to  Figures  29,  30,  and  3!,  which 
represent  Mahadeos  in  the  Chandeshwar  temple.  Upon  examination,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  resemblance  is  very  great— indeed  so  striking,  that 
an  enthusiastic  theorist  might  feel  tempted  to  claim  a  kinship  between  the 
Asiatic  Mahadeo-worshipers  and  those  who  sculptured  the  figures  in  ques- 
tion on  Bald  Friar  Rock.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  similarity  the  latter 
bear  to  the  Chandeshwar  sculptures,  they  may  have  been  intended  to 
express  a  totally  different  idea.  We  must  wait  for  more  convincing  dis- 
closures. 

*  For  the  sake  of  greater  distinctness,  I  had  the  carved  fignies  executed  in  hlack.  On  the  upper 
part  of  the  rock  are  seen  a  few  single  cups. 

t  Concentric  circles,  sculptured  as  well  as  painted  on  rocks,  were  frequently  seen  by  Major  Powell 
and  his  assistants  in  Utah,  Arizona,  and  New  Mexico.  Many  of  them  are  known  to  have  been  executed 
by  the  aborigines  of  those  districts.  Further  on  it  will  be  seen  that  they  are  perhaps  even  now  painted 
on  rocks  in  the  district  of  the  Klaiuaths  iu  Oregon,  and  were  formerly  carved  on  boulders  in  Central 
America.  In  1879  the  Smithsonian  Institution  received  from  Mr.  W.  W.  Hays  photographs  of  paintings 
on  a  rock  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County,  California.  They  consist  of  figures  of  a  most  complicated  char- 
acter, among  which  several  concentric  circles  appear.  The  colors,  as  Mr.  Hays  states  in  an  accompany- 
ing letter,  are  red,  white,  and  black.  The  locaUty  is  mentioned  iu  Bancroft's  "Native  Races"  (Vol.  IV, 
p.  C91).  ludeed,  concentric  circles  seem  to  be  ubiquitous.  The  late  Professor  C.  F.  Hartt  observed 
them,  associated  with  a  variety  of  other  figures,  in  dilierent  parts  of  Brazil,  as  shown  by  his  account  in 
the  "American  Naturalist,"  May,  1871. 

Among  the  Ojibways  concentric  circles  constituted,  according  to  Schoolcraft,  the  symbol  of 
time  (Vol.  I,  p.  409:  Plate  58,  Fig.  67). 


RATI.]  E0CK-SCULPTURE9  IN  MAllYLAND  AND  ARIZONA.  63 

A  similar  figure,  consisting  of  two  concentric  circles  Avith  a  straight 
line  running  out  from  the  larger  circle,  occurs,  among  other  carvings,  on  one 
of  the  many  sculptured  boulders  seen  by  Mr.  Bartlett  in  the  valley  of  the 
Gila  Eiver,  in  Arizona.  His  representation  of  this  boulder  is  here  copied 
as  Fig.  52.  "I  found  hundreds  of  these  boulders,"  he  says,  "covered  with 
rude  figures  of  men,  animals,  and  other  objects  of  grotesque  forms,  all 
pecked  in  with  a  sharp  instrument.  Many  of  them,  however,  were  so  much 
defaced  by  long  ex^iosure  to  the  weather,  and  by  subsequent  markings,  that 
it  was  impossible  to  make  them  out.  Among  these  rocks  I  found  several 
which  contained  sculptures  on  the  lower  side,  in  such  a  position  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  cut  them  where  they  then  lay.  Some  of  them 
weighed  many  tons,  and  it  would  have  required  immense  labor  to  place 
them  there,  and  that  too  without  an  apparent  object.  The  natural  infer- 
ence was,  that  they  had  fallen  down  from  the  summit  of  the  mountain  after 
the  sculptures  were  made  on  them.*  A  few  only  seemed  recent;  the  others 
bore  the  marks  of  great  antiquity. 

"Like  most  of  the  rude  Indian  sculptures  or  markings  which  I  have 
seen,  I  do  not  think  these  possess  any  historic  value,  as  many  suppose. 
Where  an  ingenious  Indian,  for  the  want  of  other  employment,  cuts  a:  rude 
figure  of  a  man  or  an  animal  on  a  rock  in  some  prominent  place  which  his 
people  make  it  a  practice  to  resort  to,  others,  with  the  example  before  them, 
endeavor  to  compete  with  their  brother  artist,  and  show  their  skill  by  sim- 
ilar peckings.  One  draws  an  animal  such  as  he  sees ;  another  makes  one 
according  to  his  own  fancy;  and  a  third  amuses  himself  with  devising  gro- 
tesque or  unmeaning  figures  of  other  sorts.  Hence  we  find  these  sculptured 
rocks  in  prominent  places." 

Referring  to  the  special  assemblage  to  which  the  block  here  figured 
belongs,  he  observes:  — 

"After  crossing  a  plain  for  about  five  miles,  we  reached  the  object  of 
our  search,  which  consisted  of  a  pile  of  large  boulders,  heaped  up  some 
forty  or  fifty  feet  above  the  plain,  and  standing  entirely  alone.  Such  of 
these  rocks  as  present  smooth  sides  are  covered  with  sculptures,  rudely 
pecked  in,  of  animals  and  men,  as  well  as  of  various  figures,  apparently 

*  The  boulders  were  Ijing  at  the  base  of  a  bluff. 


64  OUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

without  meaning.  There  are  hundreds  of  them  so  ornamented,  showing 
that  the  place  has  long  been  the  resort  of  the  Indians  for  this  purpose;  for 
there  seems  to  be  nothing  else  to  attract  them  here.  Many  of  the  inscrip- 
tions, like  those  before  described,  bear  the  stamp  of  great  age ;  others 
having  been  made  over  them  repeatedly,  render  it  impossible  to  trace  out 
either  the  early  or  the  later  markings. 1  do  not  attempt  any  explana- 
tion of  these  rude  figures,  but  must  leave  the  reader  to  exercise  his  own 
ingenuity  in  finding  out  their  meaning,  if  any."* 

Mr.  Bartlett  presents  delineations  of  eleven  of  these  blocks,  thus  enabling 
the  reader  to  become  acquainted  with  the  character  of  the  sculptures  upon 
them.  I  hardly  can  imagine  that  the  latter  should  be  absolutely  without 
some  meaning,  though  they  ma}-  not  express  anything  like  a  definite  record. 
I  lay  no  great  stress  on  the  presence  of  a  Mahadeo-like  carving  on  the 
boulder  represented  by  Fig.  52  ;  but  I  thought  it  proper  to  draw  attention 
to  it. 

A  similar  motive  induces  me  to  present  in  Fig.  f;3  the  design  of  a  por- 
tion of  a  group  carved  on  a  cliff"  in  the  San  Pete  Valley,  at  the  city  of 
Manti,  Utah.  A  line  drawn  horizontally  through  the  middle  of  the  parallel 
lines  connecting  the  concentric  circles  would  divide  the  figure  into  two 
halves,  each  bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  Professor  Simpson's  fifth  type 
in  Fig.  1  of  this  treatise.  A  copy  of  the  group  in  question  was  made  and 
published  by  the  ill-fated  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Gunnison,  who  also  informs  us 
that  the  Mormon  leaders  made  this  aboriginal  inscription  subservient  to 
their  religious  hocus-pocus  by  giving  the  following  translation  of  it:  "I, 
Malianti,  the  second  King  of  the  Lamanites,  in  five  valleys  in  the  mount- 
ains, make  this  record  in  the  twelve-hundredth  year  since  we  came  out  of 
Jerusalem — And  I  have  three  sons  gone  to  the  south  country  to  live  by 
hunting  antelope  and  deer.''f  Ti'uly,  mundus  vult  decipi!  Schoolcraft 
attempts  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  494)  sometliing  like  an  interpretation,  which  appears 
to  me  fanciful  and  unsatisfactory. 

*  Bartlett :  Personal  Narrative,  etc. ;  Vol.  II,  pp.  195,  206. 

+  Gnnnison  :  The  Mormous  or  Latter-Day  Saiuts,  etc. ;  Philadelphia,  1853,  p.  63. — The  illustration 
is  taken  from  Bancroft's  "Native  Races"  (Vol.  IV,  p.  717).  I  have  changed,  however,  in  accordance 
with  Lientenaut  Gunnison's  design,  the  position  of  the  grotesque  human  figure  to  the  left  of  the  con- 
centric circles. 


EAU.i  ROOK-MAEKINGS  IN  ARIZONA,  UTAH,  AND  OREGON.  65 

Among  the  Klauiatli  Indians  in  Oregon,  it  seems,  tlie  practice  of  paint- 
ing figures  on  rocks  has  not  yet  entirely  gone  into  disuse.  Through  the 
mediation  of  Mr.  Albert  S.  Gatschet  I  received  from  Dr.  James  S.  Denison, 
physician  at  the  Klamath  Agency,  Lake  County,  Oregon,  a  communication 
relative  to  the  subject.  According  to  my  correspondent,  there  are  in  that 
neighborhood  many  rocks  bearing  painted  figures ;  but  his  description  refers 
specially  to  a  single  rock,  called  Ktd-i  Tupdlcshi  (standing  rock),  situated 
about  fifty  yards  north  of  Sprague  River,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  the  junction  of  Sprague  and  Williamson  Rivers.  It  is  about  ten  feet 
high,  fourteen  feet  long,  and  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  deep.  The  accorapa-; 
nying  Figures  54,  55,  56,  and  57,  all  drawn  in  one-twelfth  of  the  natural 
size,  after  Dr.  Denison's  copies,  illustrate  the  character  of  the  paintings  seen 
on  the  smooth  southern  surface  of  this  rock.  The  most  frequent  designs 
are  single  or  concentric  circles,  like  Fig.  54,  which  consists  of  a  dark-red 
circle  suiTOunded  by  a  white  one,  the  centre  being  formed  by  a  red  round 
spot.  Fig.  56,  painted  in  dark-red  and  white  colors,  exhibits  a  somewhat 
Mahadeo-like  shape;  the  straight  appendage  of  the  circle  is  provided  on 
each  side  with  short  projecting  lines,  alternately  I'ed  and  white,  and  almost 
producing  the  effect  of  the  so-called  herring-bone  ornament.  Figures  56 
and  57,  executed  in  dai-k-red  color,  are  other  characteristic  designs  seen  on 
the  rock  in  question.  The  colors,  which,  as  my  informant  thinks,  are  rubbed 
on  with  grease,  appear  quite  distinct  on  the  dark  surface  of  the  rock. 

"  I  have  conversed,"  he  says,  "with  all  the  leading  men  and  women  of 
the  tribe  about  these  pictures  and  others  in  the  neighborhood ;  but  none  of 
them  know,  so  they  say,  when  and  how  they  were  made.  It  is,  however, 
the  genei-ally -received  opinion  that  ICmiilamisJi,  the  Creator*,  painted  them 
himself  when  he  made  this  country.  The  oldest  people  say  that  they  were 
there  when  they  were  young,  and  that  the  oldest  people  told  them  that  they 
were  there  when  they  were  young,  and  so  on.  There  are  many  rocks  with 
pictures  on  them  all  over  this  country.  These  places  are  all  sacred,  and 
there  are  many  legends  concerning  them.  Children  are  taught  not  to 
injure  or  deface  the  pictvu-es.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  these  pictures  have 
no  more  definite  meaning  than  those  made  by  children  without  any  design; 

•  "  The  Old  Man  of  Our  Forefathers,"  according  to  Mr.  A.  S.  Gatschet. 
5  L  S 


60  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHEE  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTUEES. 

that  they  last  perhaps  for  ages  unimpaired;  but  that,  when  they  do  get  dim, 
there  is  always  some  enterprising  doctor  ready  to  brighten  them  up,  and, 
perhaps,  to  execute  new  designs.  One  can  see  blotches  on  the  rocks  which 
are  very  dim,  but  look  as  though  they  had  been  figures.  The  pictures  are 
not  critically  examined  by  the  Indians,  and  as  no  one  sees  the  man  making 
them,  it  is  easy  to  claim  that  they  have  always  existed;  for  Indians,  like 
whites,  have  no  objection  to  pious  frauds  and  lies.  They  are  such  liars 
that  it  is  hard  work  to  find  out  even  the  legends  concerning  the  places. 
They  either  change  them  to  make  them  like  something  they  have  heard  of 
as  being  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  or  leave  out  a  part,  insomuch  that  one  can 
hardly  find  two  who  relate  the  same  story  in  the  same  way." 

Such  are  Dr.  Denison's  remarks,  complimentary  neither  to  Indians  nor 
to  whites.  He  then  gives  a  Klamath  tradition  relating  to  K'nuikamtsh, 
which  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  insert,  as  it  has  no  reference  to  the  rock- 
paintings  just  described. 


CENTEAL  AMEEICA. 

Lastly,  I  will  draw  attention  to  the  curious  rock-sculptures  which 
Dr.  Berthold  Seemann,  the  distinguished  botanist,  examined  in  Chiriqui,  in 
the  State  of  Panama,  United  States  of  Colombia,  and  in  which  he  discovers 
a  great  resemblance  to  those  of  Northumberland,  Scotland,  and  other  parts 
of  Great  Britain.  After  some  preliminar}' remarks,  of  no  particular  interest 
to  the  reader  who  has  thus  far  followed  me,  he  continues : — 

"  It  is,  therefore,  all  tlie  more  singular  that,  thousands  of  miles  away, 
in  a  remote  corner  of  tropical  America,  we  should  find  the  concentric  rings 
and  several  other  chai-acters  typically  identical  with  those  engraved  on  the 
British  rocks.  I  discovered  them  near  the  town  of  David,  in  Chiriqui,  in  the 
spring  of  ]  848,  and  read  a  paper  on  the  subject  before  the  Archaeological 
Institute,  shortly  after  my  return  to  London  in  1851.  A  brief  account  of  it 
was  given  in  my  '  Narrative  of  the  Voj^age  of  H.  M.  S.  Herald '  (Vol.  I,  p. 
312,  London,  1853),  but  the  drawings  illustrating  them  were  unfortunately 


KATJ.]  .  ROCK-SCULPTURES  IN  CHIRIQUI.  67 

omitted,  the  publisher  objecting  to  thorn  on  account  of  the  expense;  but 
some  of  them  were  afterward  placed  by  me  at  the  disposal  of  Mr.  Bollaert, 
and  published  by  that  gentleman  in  his  'Antiquities,  etc  ,  of  South  America, 
(London,  18G0),  whilst  others  have  been,  it  is  feared,  entirely  lost,  especially 
those  which  would  have  established  the  identity  of  the  British  and  Chiriqui 
inscriptions  beyond  doubt  in  the  minds  of  others.  For  my  own  part,  I  was 
so  much  struck  with  the  general  resemblance,  not  to  say  identity,  of  the  two, 
that  when  the  plates  of  Mr.  Tate's  work  were  first  shown  to  me,  and  I  was 
quite  ignorant  to  what  country  they  related,  I  fully  believed  them  to  rep- 
resent Chiriqui  rock-inscriptions.  Even  from  the  drawings  I  still  retain  of 
a  Chiriqui  rock  I  am  able  to  pick  out  some  of  the  most  typical  characters 
found  on  the  British  i-ocks,  as  the  accompanying  diagrams — here  Fig.  58 — 
will  show.* 

"  The  characters  in  Chiriqui  are,  like  those  of  Great  Britain,  incised  on 
large  stones,  the  surface  of  which  has  not  previously  undergone  any  smooth- 
ing process.  The  incised  stones  occur  in  a  district  of  Veraguas  (Chiriqui 
or  Alanje),  which  is  now  thinly  inhabited,  but  which,  judging  from  the 
numerous  tombs,  was  once  densely  peopled  by  a  nation  which  became 
known  to  Columbus  in  his  fourth  voyage  of  discovery,  manufactured  some 
elegantly-shaped  pottery,  wore  ornaments  made  of  gold  of  a  low  standard, 
called  quanin,  and  bui'ied  their  dead  in  stone  cists,  accompanied  by  their 
weapons,  ornaments,  potteiy,  and  other  household  articles.f 

*  The  explanations  accompanying  Fig.  58  are  likewise  Dr.  Seemann's. 

+  Dr.  Seemann  adds  here  the  following  note :  '  This  very  same  people,  supposed  to  have  been  the 
Dorachos  or  Dorazques,  had  also  made  considerable  progress  in  sculi)turing  columns,  and  placing  on  them 
raised  characters.  Several  of  these  columns,  about  ten  to  twelve  feet  long,  were  knocking  about  tho 
streets  of  David,  tho  capital  of  Alanje,  or  Chiriqui,  during  my  visit  in  1848,  and  numbers  are  said  to 
occur  in  other  places.  Kaised  characters  require,  of  course,  more  artistic  slcill  than  incised  ones,  and 
hence  denote  a  higher  degree  ol  civilization.  If,  therefore,  the  people  who  readily  engraved  their 
thouglits  on  the  piedra  pintal,  and  other  stones  of  which  it  is  the  tj^pe,  are  assumed  to  have  been  the 
same  as  those  who  expressed  them  in  raised  characters  on  the  columns  of  which  I  saw  specimens  at 
David,  a  long  period  must  have  elapsed  before  tools  could  be  brought  to  such  perfection  as  to  allow  tho 
employment  of  iuscriptions  in  reUcf.  But  there  is  no  identity  of,  or  even  distant  resemblance  between, 
tho  incised  and  raised  characters,  and  wo  need,  therefore,  not  trouble  ourselves  any  further  about  this 
point.  Tho  identity  of  the  two  being  abandoned,  it  may  just  be  worth  while  to  consider  the  possibility 
of  their  being  executed  by  contemporaries.  In  highly  civilized  countries,  such  as  ancient  India,  Egypt, 
and  modern  Europe,  different  modes  of  expressing  (bought  have  been  and  are  iiractised;  but  tho  most 
advanced  jieople  who  ever  inhabited  Chiriqui  had  not  attained  so  high  a  degree  of  civilization  as  would 
justify  us  in  assuming  that  they  resorted  to  two  entirely  different  systems  of  recording  their  ideas.  It 
is,  therefore,  scarcely  jjossible  to  escape  the  conclusion  that  tho  incised  characters  were  by  a  different, 
less  civilized,  and  more  ancient  race  than  the  characters  in  relief.' 


68  CUP  SHAPED  Ai!?D  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

"From  information  received  during  my  two  visits  to  Cliiriqui,  and 
from  what  lias  been  published  since  I  first  drew  attention  to  this  subject,  I 
am  led  to  believe  that  there  are  a  great  many  inscribed  rocks  in  that  dis- 
tinct. But  I  myself  have  seen  only  one,  the  now  famous  piedm  pintal  (i.  e. 
painted  stone),  which  is  found  on  a  plain  at  Caldera,  a  few  leagues  from 
the  town  of  David.  It  is  fifteen  feet  high,  nearly  fifty  feet  in  circumference, 
and  rather  flat  on  the  top.  Every  part,  especially  the  eastern  side,  is  cov- 
ered with  incised  characters  about  an  inch  or  half  an  inch  deep.  The  first 
figure  on  the  left-hand  side  represents  a  radiant  sun,  followed  by  a  series 
of  heads,  or  what  appear  to  be  heads,  all  with  some  variation.  It-is  these 
heads,  particularly  the  appendages  (perhaps  intended  for  hair"?),  which 
show  a  certain  resemblance  to  one  of  the  most  curious  characters  found  on 
the  British  rocks  {2b  in  Fig.  58),  and  calling  to  mind  the  so-called  'Ogham 
characters.'  These  'heads'  are  succeeded  by  scorpion-like,  or  branched, 
and  other  fantastic  figures.  Tlie  top  of  the  stone,  and  the  other  sides,  are 
cov<3red  with  a  great  number  of  concentric  rings  and  ovals,  crossed  by  lines. 
It  is  especially  these  which  bear  so  striking  a  resemblance  to  the  Northum- 
brian characters. 

"Symmetry  being  the  first  aim  of  barbarous  nations  in  their  attempt 
at  ornamentation,  I  have  always  rejected  the  idea  that  these  figures  are 
intended  for  mere  ornament,  and  have  taken  them  to  be  symbols  full  of 
meaning,  and  recording  ideas  held  to  be  of  vital  importance  to  the  people 
who  used  them,  and  whose  very  name  has  become  a  matter  of  doubt. 
However,  to  speculate  on  their  meaning  must  be  labor  thrown  away,  until 
we  shall  have  become  acquainted  with  all  the  inscriptions,  of  which  those 
on  the  piedra  pintal  are  specimens. 

"At  present  we  can  hardly  say  more  than  that  there  is  a  remarkable 
family  likeness,  if  nothing  more,  between  the  ancient  British  and  Chiriqui 
inscriptions, — a  relationship  entirely  unsuspected  by  me  until  Mr.  Tate's 
remarkable  work  fell  into  my  hands.  Could  an  identity  between  these 
rocks,  so  widely  separated  geographically,  be  established,  we  should  be  in 
a  position  to  indulge  in  legitimate  speculation.  We  should  have  to  con- 
cede— I  say  it  without  hesitation — that,  in  prehistoric  times,  an  intercourse 
existed  between  the  British  Islands  and  Central  America ;  that  this  inter- 


KATJl  EOGK-SOULPTUEES  IN  CHIEIQUI.  69 

course  could  not  be  maintained  by  the  small  crafts  which  so  rude  a  civiliza- 
tion could  send  across  the  wide  Atlantic  Ocean;  that  a  land  communication 
was  absolutel}'  necessary  to  ensure  such  an  intercourse ;  that  it  could  not 
have  been  carried  on  by  way  of  Asia  without  leaving'  numerous  traces 
behind ;  that  no  such  traces  have  been  found ;  and  that,  consequently,  it 
must  have  taken  place  when  the  Island  of  Atlantis — in  the  hands  of  modern 
science  no  longer  an  Egyptian  myth — was  so  intimately  connecting  Europe 
and  America ;  that  the  woods,  which  then  covered  Europe,  were  identical 
in  character  with  those  still  existing  in  the  southern  parts  of  North  America. 
But  before  science  can  concede  conclusions  of  these,  or  similar,  speculations, 
we  want  more  facts,  which,  it  is  hoped,  may  be  forthcoming  now  that  it  has 
been  shown  what  great  interest  attaches  to  them."* 

Leaving  aside  Dr.  Seemann's  far-reaching  speculations,  I  must  confess 
that  I  cannot  share  his  enthusiasm  in  the  matter  of  the  Chiriqui  rock-sculp- 
ture described  by  him.  Being  in  possession  of  Mr.  Bollaert's  work  which 
contains  Dr.  Seemann's  representation  of  the  piedra  pintal,  I  was  enabled 
to  compare  the  sculptures  on  the  latter  with  those  figured  by  Messrs.  Tate 
and  Simpson.  That  there  is  a  general  resemblance  betAveen  the  Northum- 
brian and  Scottish  and  the  Chiriqui  sculptures  cannot  be  denied ;  but  I  can 
discover  no  figures  on  the  piedra  pintal  which  are  identical  in  shape  with 
European  lapidarian  sculptures,  excepting  concentric  circles  and  a  few 
carvings  resembling  wheels  with  four  spokes.  Simple  devices  like  these, 
when  found  in  different  countries,  are  no  proof  of  the  ethnic  affinity  of 
those  who  executed  them,  but  may  rather  be  considered  as  the  result  of 
independent  invention.  It  requires  a  far  greater  analogy  in  details  to 
establish  an  absolute  identity. 

However,  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  character  of  other  Chiri- 
qui rock-sculptures,  which,  according  to  Dr.  Seemann,  are  quite  frequent 
in  that  district. 

*  Pirn  and  Seemann  :  Dottings  on  the  Roadside,  in  Panama,  Nicaragua,  and  Mosquito  ;  London, 
1869,  p.  27,  etc. 


P^RT    III. 

VIEWS  CONCERNING  THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  CUP-SHAPED 
AND  OTHER  PRIMITIVE  SCULPTURES. 

In  a  preceding  section  of  this  essay  I  have  described  the  cupped 
granite  boulder,  called  the  Balder  Stone,  near  Falkoping,  Sweden.  As 
stated,  it  was  first  brought  into  notice  by  Professor  Nilsson,  who  thinks  it 
served  in  the  worship  of  Baal  as  a  sacrificial  altar,  the  cup-shaped  cavities 
of  which  were  designed  to  receive  the  blood  of  victims.  The  cups  on  the 
Willfara  slab  (Fig.  23),  he  believes,  were  excavated  for  the  same  purpose. 
We  have  also  seen  that  he  ascribes  the  introduction  of  bronze  in  the  North 
of  Europe  to  Baal-woi'shipin^  Phoenicians,  who,  according  to  his  view,  had 
established  factories  or  settlements  in  those  parts,  for  the  purpose  of  trading 
with  the  natives.  He  considers  the  sculptured  concentric  circles  in  general 
as  emblematic  of  sun  (or  Baal)-worship,  drawing  at  the  same  time  atten- 
tion to  their  similarity  to  ornaments  seen  on  weapons  and  other  ol^jects  of 
the  bronze  age  and  even  of  the  early  iron  age.  In  order  to  show  by  what 
mode  of  reasoning  Professor  Nilsson  was  led  to  these  conclusions,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  devote  some  space  to  a  consideration  of  his  remarkable 
work  on  the  bronze  age,  in  whicJi  his  views  are  laid  down.  Yet,  if  I  were 
to  give  a  resume  of  its  contents,  and  comments  thereon,  I  would  enter 
upon  a  task  most  ably  performed  by  Sir  John  Lubbock,  and  I  therefore 
quote  his  concise  observations  in  full : — 

"Professor  Nilsson's  arguments,"  he  says,  "may  be  reduced  to  seven, 
namely,  the  small  size  of  the  sword-handles,  bracelets,  etc.;  the  character 
of  the  ornaments  on  the  bronze  implements ;  the  engravings  in  bronze-age 
tumuli ;  the  worship  of  Baal ;  certain  peculiar  methods  of  rea[)hig  and 
fishing;  and  the  use  of  war-chariots. 


72  CUP-SnAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

"  The  implements  and  ornaments  of  bronze  certainly  appear  to  have 
belonged  to  a  race  with  smaller  hands  than  those  of  the  present  European 
nations ;  the  ornaments  on  them  are  also  peculiar,  and  have,  in  Professor 
Nilsson's  opinion,  a  symbolic  meaning.  Although  the  great  stones  in  tumuli 
attributed  to  the  bronze  age  are  very  seldom  ornamented,  or  even  hewn  into 
shape,  still  there  are  some  few  exceptions ;  one  of  these  being  the  remark- 
able monument  near  Kivik  in  Christianstad.  From  the  general  character 
of  the  engravings  Professor  Nilsson  has  no  hesitation  in  referring  this 
tumulus  to  the  bronze  age,  and  on  two  of  the  stones  are  representations  of 
human  figures,  which  may  fairly  be  said  to  have  a  Phoenician  or  Egyptian 
appearance. 

"  On  another  of  the  stones  an  obelisk  is  represented,  which  Professor 
Nilsson  regards  as  symbolical  of  the  sun-god ;  *  and  it  is  certainly  remark- 
able that  in  an  ancient  ruin  in  Malta,  characterized  by  other  decorations  of 
the  bronze-age  types,  a  somewhat  similar  obelisk  was  discovered;  we 
know  also  that  in  many  countries  Baal,  the  god  of  the  Phoenicians,  was 
worshiped  under  the  form  of  a  conical  stone. 

"  Nor  is  this,  by  any  means,  the  only  case  in  which  Professor  Nilsson 
finds  traces  of  Baal-worship  in  Scandinavia.  Indeed,  the  festival  of  Baal,  or 
Balder,  was,  he  tells  us,  celebrated  on  Midsummer's-night  in  Scania,  and  far 
up  in  Norway,  almost  to  the  Lofibden  Islands,  until  within  the  last  fifty 
years.  A  wood  fire  was  made  upon  a  hill  or  mountain,  and  the  people  of 
the  neighborhood  gathered  together,  in  order,  like  Baal's  prophets  of  old,  to 
dance  round  it,  shouting  and  singing.  This  Midsummer's-night  fire  has 
even  retained  in  some  parts  the  ancient  name  of  '  Baldersbal',  or  Balder's 
fire.  Leopold  von  Buch  long  ago  suggested  that  this  custom  could  not  have 
originated  in  a  country  where  at  Midsummer  the  sun  is  never  lost  sight  of, 
and  where,  consequently,  the  smoke  only,  not  the  fire,  is  visible.  A  similar 
custom  also  prevailed  until  lately  in  some  parts  of  our  islands.  Baal  has 
given  his  name  to  many  Scandinavian  localities,  as,  for  instance,  the  Baltic, 
the  Great  and  Little  Belt,  Belteberga,  Baleshaugen,  Balestranden,  etc. 

"  The  ornamentation  characteristic  of  the  bronze  age  is,  in  the  opinion 
of  Professor  Nilsson,  decidedly  Semitic  rather  than  Indo-European.     He 

*  Seo  Fig.  24  of  this  ijublitatioii. 


KATT.]  NILSSON'S  THEOET.  73 

lays  considerable  stress  on  two  curious  vase-carriages,  one  found  in  Sweden 
and  the  other  in  Mecklenburg,  which  certainly  appear  to  have  been  very 
like  the  'vases'  made  for  Solomon's  temple, -and  described  in  the  first  Book 
of  Kings.  Finally,  he  believes  that  the  use  of  war-chariots,  the  practice  of 
reaping  close  to  the  ear,  and  a  certain  method  of  fishing,  are  all  evidences 
of  Phoenician  intercourse. 

"  Professor  Nilsson  is  so  great  an  authority,  as  an  archaeologist  his 
labors  have  contributed  so  much  to  place  the  science  on  a  sound  basis,  tliat 
his  opinions  are  deserving  of  the  most  carefid  consideration.  Nor  can  they 
fairly  be  judged  by  the  very  short  abstract  which  has  been  given  above,  as 
many  of  his  argumients  must  be  followed  in  detail  before  they  can  be  prop- 
ei"!}'  appreciated.  That  the  Phoenicians  have  left  their  traces  in  Norway  is, 
however,  in  my  opinion,  all  that  can  fairly  be  deduced  from  the  facts  on 
which  he  relies,  even  if  we  attribute  to  them  all  the  significance  claimed  for 
them  by  him.  Further  evidence  is  required  before  it  would  be  safe  to  con- 
nect them  wdth  the  bronze  age.  As  regards  the  smallness  of  the  hands,  we 
must  remember  that  Hindoos  share  this  pecixliarity  with  Egyptians.  This 
character  is  therefore  not  less  reconcilable  with  an  Indo-European  than 
with  a  Phoenician  origin  of  the  bronze-age  civilization. 

"There  are  three  strong  objections  to  the  theory  so  ably  advocated 
by  Professor  Nilsson.  The  first  is  the  character  of  the  ornamentation  on 
the  bronze  weapons  and  implements.  This  almost  always  consists  of  geo- 
metrical figures,  and  we  rarely,  if  ever,  find  upon  them  representations  of 
animals  or  plants ;  while  on  the  ornamented  shields,  etc.,  described  by 
Homer,  as  well  as  in  the  decoration  of  Solomon's  temple,  animals  and 
plants  were  abundantly  represented.  Secondly,  the  burial-customs  of 
the  Phcjenicians  diftered  altogether  from  those  of  the  bronze  age,  and 
although  it  may  be  said  that  those  who  attribute  the  presence  of  bronze  in 
Northern  and  Western  Europe  to  Phoenician  commerce,  do  not  necessarily, 
on  that  account,  assume  that  the  population  of  those  countries  became  Phoe- 
nician, still  in  this  case  the  hypothesis  explains  the  presence  of  bronze,  but 
not  tlie  bronze  age,  of  which  the  use  of  bronze,  though  the  most  striking, 
is  by  no  means  the  only  characteristic.  Thirdly,  the  Phoenicians,  as  far  as 
we  know  them,  were  well  acquainted  with  the  use  c*f  iron ;  in  Homer  we 


74  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPT UEES. 

find  the  warriors  already  armed  with  iron  weapons,*  and  the  tools  used  in 
preparing  tlic  materials  for  Solomon's  temple  were  of  this  metal  It  is  very 
remarkable  that  scarcely  any  traces  of  ancient  commerce  have  been  found 
in  Cornwall,  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  our  museums  possess  so 
few  specimens  of  Phoenician  art.  When  these  wants  shall  have  been  sup- 
plied, as  we  ma}'  hope  that  ere  long  they  will  be,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
much  light  will  be  thrown  on  the  subject."! 

Professor  Nilsson,  I  may  add,  finds  distinct  traces  of  the  Phoenicians 
in  Ireland,  which  country  he  visited  in  1860,  witli  a  view  to  examine  its 
antiquities.  He  ascribes  to  that  enterprising  people  the  cairns  of  Dowth 
and  New  Grange,  the  chambers  of  which  show  sculptui'ed  figures  (zigzags, 
wheels  with  four  spokes,  etc.)  resembling  those  on  the  slabs  of  the  Kivik 
monument.  lie  lays  particular  stress  on  the  fact  that  the  custom  of  lighting 
a  Midsummer's-night  fire,  and  of  dancing  around  or  jumping  through  it,  was 
still  in  vogue  among  the  Irish  until  within  a  recent  period.  This  ceremony, 
called  Balstein  by  the  people,  has  been  abolished  through  the  efforts  of  the 
clergy,  who  were  desirous  of  putting  an  end  to  the  excesses  arising  from 
the  practice.J  The  structures  of  Avebury  and  Stonehenge,  in  Wiltshire, 
England,  I  may  further  state,  are  considered  by  Professor  Nilsson  as  tem- 

*  There  is  repeatedly  reference  made  to  iron  in  the  Homeric  poems  (II.  IV,  482;  V,  722;  XXIII,  826, 
etc.),  and  even  the  hardening  of  iron  by  immersion  in  water  is  alluded  to  (Od.  IX,  391).  Iron  is  also 
mentioned  by  Homer  in  connection  vrith  more  precious  metals,  a  circumstance  indicative  of  tho  value  in 
which  it  was  held.  Thus,  bronze,  gold,  and  "much-worked"  iron — x'^^^'OV  te  xpv<^6y  te,  7loXvMjii7/r6v 
TE  6iS>fpoy — constituted  the  treasure  of  Ulysses  (Od.  XIV,  324).  Yet  spears,  swordr,,  and  other  weapons 
used  during  the  Trojan  war  are  described  as  being  made  of  bronze. 

Dr.  Schliemann,  however,  has  arrived  at  diflxrent  results.  In  an  address  delivered  at  the  Eleventh 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  German  Anthropological  Society,  held  at  Berlin  in  August,  1880,  he  expresses 
himself  as  follows : — 

"  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  prove  that  Homer  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  Trojan  war.  Unfortu- 
nately I  cannot.  In  his  time  swords  were  in  general  use  and  iron  was  known  ;  at  Troy  swords  were  as 
yet  totally  unknown,  and  the  people  had  no  knowledge  of  iron.  The  civilization  described  by  him  post- 
dates several  centuries  that  which  was  brought  to  light  by  my  excavations.  Homer  gives  us  the  legend 
of  Ilion's  tragic  fate  as  it  was  transmitted  to  him  by  former  bards,  and,  in  doing  so,  he  clothes  the  tradi- 
tion of  tho  war  and  tho  destruction  of  Troy  in  the  garb  of  his  own  time.  Yet  he  was  not  without  jicr- 
Bonal  knowledge  of  the  localities,  as  his  descriptions  of  the  Troas  in  general,  and  of  the  plain  of  Troy  in 
particular,  are  in  tho  main  correct." — Note  by  C.  Ban. 

tSir  John  Lubbock:  Prehistoric  Times;  New  York,  1872,  p.  71,  etc. 

X  Mr.  Holden,  of  tho  well-known  firm  Harvey  &  Holden,  of  this  city,  told  me  that,  in  his  boy- 
hood, he  used  to  assist  in  collecting  the  wood  for  these  (ires  and  in  building  them.  I  obtained  similar 
information  from  other  natives  of  Ireland.  However,  the  custom  of  lighting  fires  on  Saint  John's  eve 
also  prevailed,  and  still  survives  to  some  extent,  in  Germany,  France,  and  other  parts  of  the  European 
Continent. 


itAu.j  NILSSON'S  THEORY— VIEWS  OF  OTHER  AUTHORS.  75 

pies  erected  by  tlie  Phoenicians,  and  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  sun- 
god. 

Nilsson's  Phoenician  theory  has  been  discussed  at  great  length,  and  in 
a  scholarly  manner,  by  Professor  Simpson,  who  is  very  far  from  sharing 
his  views,  and  is  even  inclined  to  attribute  a  Cimhrian  rather  than  a  Phoeni- 
cian origin  to  the  Kivik  sculptures,  to  which  the  Swedish  archeeologist  so 
often  refers  in  his  argumentation.*  In  more  recent  writings  relating  to  the 
introduction  of  bronze  in  Europe  I  have  not  met  with  allusions  to  Pro- 
fessor Nilsson's  theory,  which  thus  appears  to  have  been  abandoned  at  the 
present  time.f  Yet,  though  the  author  has  failed  to  convince  his  fellow- 
laborers  in  the  field  of  archaeology  of  the  correctness  of  his  views,  his  work, 
nevertheless,  possesses  uncommon  merit,  on  account  of  the  vast  amount  of 
research  embodied  in  it,  and  Miss  Mestorf  deserves  great  credit  for  having 
translated  it  into  German — a  language  more  generally  understood  than 
the  Swedish  of  the  original. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  foregoing,  it  would  appear  that  the  Swedish 
cupped  stones  were  not  sacrificial  altars  serving  in  the  worship  of  a  Phoenician 
deity;  and  grave  doubts  have  been  expressed  by  prominent  authorities 
whether  cupped  boulders  were  at  all  used  as  altars,  considering  that  the 
cups  often  occur  on  perpendicular  or  strongly-inclined  surfaces,  and  thus 
could  not  have  served  as  the  receptacles  of  liquid  substances. 

In  addition  to  the  altar  theory,  cup  and  ring-cuttings  have,  as  may  be 
imagined,  given  rise  to  a  variety  of  speculations  as  to  the  purpose  for  which 
they  were  made.  Some  of  these  views,  recorded  and  commented  on  in 
Professor  Simpson's  work,"  may  be  presented  in  this  place. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Greenwell-,  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson,  Dr.  Graves,  and 
others,  consider  them  as  archaic  maps  or  plans  of  old  circular  camps  and 
cities  in  their  neighborhood,  telling  possibly  of  their  direction  and  character. 
"But  I  believe,"  says  Simpson,  "this  idea  has  now  Been  abandoned  as 
untenable  by  some,  if  not  by  all,  of  the  antiquaries  who  first  suggested  it." 

"The  carvings,"  Professor  Simpson  continues,  "have  been  held  by  some 
as  intended  for  dials,  the  light  of  the  sun  marking  time  upon  them — or 

*  Simpsou  :  Archaic  Sculptures,  etc. ;  p.  81,  etc. 

t  Views  similar  to  those  of  Professor  Nilssoii  are  expressed  by  Frederic  de  Rougemout  iu  "  L'Ago 
du  Bronze  ou  les  Semites  en  Occident;"  Paris,  186G. 


76  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

upon  a  stick  placed  in  their  central  cups — and  its  shadow  corresponding 
with  one  of  the  central  radial  grooves ;  but  they  have  been  found  in  local- 
ties  which  neither  sun  nor  shadow  could  reach,  as  in  the  dark  interiors  of 
stone  sepulchres  and  underground  houses.  Others  have  regarded  them  as 
some  form  of  gambling  table ;  but  they  occur  on  perpendicular  and  slanting 
as  well  as  flat  rocks;  and  besides,  if  such  were  their  use,  they  would 
scarcely  have  been  employed  to  cover  the  ashes  of  the  dead. 

"I  have  heard  them  spoken  of  as  rude  representations  of  the  sun  and 
stars,  and  of  other  material  and  even  corporeal  objects  of  natural  or  Sabean 
worship ;  but  all  attempts  to  connect  the  peculiar  configurations  and  rela- 
tions which  they  show  with  any  celestial  or  terrestrial  matters  have  as  yet 
confessedly  failed.  Nor  have  we  the  slightest  particle  of  evidence  in  favor 
of  any  of  the  numerous  additional  conjectures  which  have  been  proposed — 
as  that  these  British  cup  and  ring-carvings  are  symbolic  enumerations  of 
families  or  tribes:  or  some  variety  of  archaic  writing;  or  emblems  of  the 
philosophical  views  of  the  Druids;  or  stone  tables  for  Druidical  sacrifices; 
or  objects  for  the  practice  of  magic  and  necromancy." 

One  of  Professor  Simpson's  friends,  Mr.  Dickson,  of  Alnwick,  in  re- 
ferring to  incised  stones  in  Northumberland,  "has  suggested  that  these 
carvings  relate  to  the  god  Mithras  (the  name  under  which  the  sun  was 
worshiped  in  Persia);  that  about  the  end  of  the  second  century  the 
religion  of  Mithras  had  extended  over  all  the  western  empire,  and  was  the 
favorite  religion  of  the  Romans — a  system  of  astrological  theology;  that 
in  the  sculptured  Northumberland  rocks  the  central  cup  signifies  the  sun, 
the  concentric  circles  probably  the  orbits  of  the  planets,  and  the  radial 
straight  groove  the  way  through  the  sun.  •  In  consequence,  Mr.  Dickson 
holds  these  rock-sculptures  to  be  the  work  of  the  Romans,  and  not  Celtic — 
having  been  cut,  he  supposes,  as  emblems  of  their  religion  by  Roman  sol- 
diers near  old  British  camps,  after  they  had  driven  out  their  native  defend- 
ers. But  if  they  were  of  Roman  origin,  they  would  surely  be  found  in 
and  around  Roman  stations,  and  not  in  and  around  British  localities — in 
Roman  graves,  and  not  in  old  British  kistvaens.  The  fact,  however,  is  that 
they  abound  in  localities  which  no  Roman  soldiers  ever  reached,  as  in 
Argyleshire,  in  Orkney,  and  in  Ireland.     And  possibly  even  most  of  them 


EAU.i  MITHEAS  AND  LINGAMWORSHIP.  77 

were  cut  before  the  mythic  time  when  RomiUus  drew  his  first  encirchng 
furrow  around  the  Palatine  Mount,  and  founded  that  petty  vilhige,  which 
was  destined  to  become — within  seven  or  eight  short  centuries — the  Empress 
of  the  civiHzed  world." 

The  idea  that  the  markings  should  have  any  bearing  on  the  worsliip 
of  the  reciprocal  principles  of  nature  is  summarily  dismissed  by  Professor 
Simpson  in  a  short  note  on  page  80  of  his  work.  He  says:  "Two  archae- 
ological friends  of  mine — both  dignitaries  of  the  Episcopal  Church— have 
separately  formed  the  idea  that  the  lapidary  cups  and  circles  are  emblems 
of  old  female  Lingam  worship,  a  supposition  which  appears  to  me  totally 
without  any  anatomical  or  other  foundation,  and  one  altogether  opposed  by 
all  we  know  of  the  specific  class  of  symbols  used  in  that  worship,  either  in 
ancient  or  modern  times." 

This  note  is  thus  commented  on  by  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac:  "I  am  sanguine 
that,  if  the  late  Sir  J.  Simpson  had  seen  the  sketches  of  what  I  have  called 
the  'conventional  symbols'  on  the  shrines  at  Chandeshwar,  and  had  been 
able  to  compare  them  with  some  of  the  types  figiired  in  his  work,  he  might 
have  been  inclined  to  modify  the  opinion  above  extracted.  The  treatment 
of  these  symbols  is  purely  conventional,  they  bear  no  anatomical  resem- 
blance to  anything,  they  are  unlike  many  of  the  large,  well-known,  and 
acknowledged  representations  of  the  Mahadeo  and  Yoni.  Still  they  nev- 
ertheless represent  the  same  idea.  And  here  it  may  be  noticed  that  the 
same  argument  of  anatomical  non-resemblance  might  be  advanced  in  regard 
to  the  well-known  representations,  common  throughout  India,  of  the  mean- 
ing of  which  to  the  initiated  there  is  no  doubt  at  all.  To  the  uninitiated, 
however,  the  shapes  convey  nothing,  and  I  have  known  cases  of  Europeans 
who  have  been  many  years  in  the  country,  who  were  quite  unsuspicious  of 
what  'that  jew's-harp  idol,'  as  they  called  it,  was  intended  to  represent.  As 
the  old  priest  at  Chandeshwar  said,  'Those  who  can  afford  it,  put  up  a  big 
Mahadeo ;  those  who  can't,  put  up  these  slabs.'  And  so  also  with  us.  The 
rich  relations  or  friends  of  the  Christian  may  put  over  his  grave  a  solid, 
richly-carved  stone  cross.  The  grave  of  a  poor  man,  if  marked  at  all,  has 
over  it  perhaps  two  pieces  of  Avood  nailed  together  in  the  shape  of  a  cross, 
or  a  cross  roughly  cut  on  a  piece  of  stone.     The  Christian  church  is  built 


78  CUP-SnAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

in  the  form  of  a  cross.  In  Pandukoli  and  many  other  spots  the  Mahadeo 
temples  are  built  in  the  shape  of  the  conventional  symbols  of  that  faith."* 
He  then  observ^es  that  the  symbols  of  the  Mahadeo  and  Yoni  can  be  more 
conveniently  indicated  on  stone  by  what  naay  be  called  a  ground-plan  than 
by  a  section,  and  refers  for  illustration  to  designs  accompanying  his  pub- 
lication. It  would  be  difficult  to  find  fault  with  this  refutation  of  Professor 
Simpson's  assertion  concerning  the  character  of  those  symbolic  representa- 
tions. 

Professor  Simpson  himself  does  not  attempt  to  explain  the  special  sig- 
nificance of  the  Scottish  and  English  cup  and  ring-cuttings  ;  but  in  view  of 
their  thoroughly  homogeneous  charactei',  lie  considers  them  as  expressive  of 
some  religious  conception  of  those  who  made  them — a  conclusion  hardly 
admitting  of  any  doubt.  On  the  other  hand,  he  holds  that  the  more  com- 
plicated carved  figures  seen  on  megalithic  structures  in  Ireland  and  Brit- 
tany are,  in  part  at  least,  of  an  ornamental  character;  and  this  view  seems 
to  me  equally  correct.  Indeed,  some  of  the  few  illustrations  of  Irish  and 
Breton  carvings  given  in  this  publication  (Figures  12  and  14)  present  an 
appearance  calculated  to  corroborate  Professor  Simpson's  opinion. 

Tlie  learned  Scottish  author  refers  the  cup  and  ring-carvings  to  a  remote 
period  of  antiquit)^  "The  very  simplicity  of  the  cup  and  circle  forms",  he 
says,  "is  one  strong  reason  for  our  regarding  these  types  of  sculpture  as 
the  most  archaic  stone-carvings  that  have  been  left  to  iis"  (page  105).  He 
draws  particular  attention  to  their  precedence  of  letters  and  of  traditions  of 
any  kind,  and  to  the  fact  that  they  appear  on  megalithic  monuments  erected 
at  a  time  when  metal  was  not  yet  in  use.  Concerning  this  point  he  sa3's: 
"At  present  I  am  not  aware  that  within  any  of  the  sepulchres,  whose  stones 
are  marked  only  with  the  incised  ring  and  cup-cuttings,  any  kind  or  form 
of  metallic  tool  or  instrument  has  yet  been  found.  Should  further  and 
more  extended  observation  confirm  this  remark,  then  it  will  naturally  fol- 
low that  the  commencemeuf  of  these  sculpturings  must  be  thrown  back  to 

the  so-called  Stone  period,  or  to  an  era  anterior  to  the  use  of  metals. 

I  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  at  whatever  time  the  simple  cup  and  ring- 
sculptures  were  first  begun  to  be  cut,  the  practice  of  carving  them — if  it 

*Eivett-Carniic:  Areliieological  Notes,  etc. ;  p.  11. 


EAU.j  COMMENTS  BY  SIMPSON.  79 

did  not  initiate  in — was  at  least  continued  into,  and  indeed  extended  during 
the  so-called  Bronze  era,  and  perhaps  till  a  later  period ;  for  bronze  tools 
and  ornaments  have  occasionally  been  found  in  localities  in  Argyleshire, 
Northumberland,  and  elsewhere  near  to  spots  where  the  sculptures  exist  in 
unusual  numbers ;  though  none  yet  have  been  discovered,  as  far  as  I  am 
aware,  in  immediate  or  direct  connection  with  these  carved  stones  or  cists 
themselves"  (pages  119,  120). 

Professor  Simpson's  remarks  concerning  the  race  that  first  introduced 
the  carving  of  the  lapidarian  cup  and  ring-sculptures  are  of  great  interest. 
The  earliest  really  historical  records  of  Britain,  he  observes,  date  from  the 
time  of  Julius  Caesar's  expeditions  to  the  island,  antedating  the  Christian 
era  about  half  a  century.  At  that  period  the  population  appears  to  have 
chiefly  consisted  of  Celts,  with  an  admixture  of  Belgian  and  probably  of 
Ligurian  elements.  When  Scotland  was  first  invaded  by  the  Romans  (81 
after  Christ),  the  inhabitants  made  use  of  war-  chariots,  and,  having  already 
passed  through  the  era  of  bronze  weapons,  fought  in  the  battle  of  the 
Grampian  Mountains,  in  which  Agricola  defeated  the  native  forces  under 
Galgacus,  with  huge  blunt-pointed  swords  (enormes  (jladii  sine  mucrone)* 
which  form  of  weapon,  Simpson  thinks,  can  only  be^  supposed  to  have  been 
made  of  iron. 

The  remarks  following  next  in  his  work  (page  125)  are  of  such  striking 
character  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  them  in  full.     He  says: — 

"We  have  no  adequate  data  as  yet  to  fix  the  date  of  advent  to  our 
shores  of  the  Cymry  and  Gael,  and  to  determine  whether  or  not  they  brought 
along  with  them,  at  their  first  arrival,  as  some  hold,  a  knowledge  of  the 
metallurgic  arts.  But  much  evidence  has  been  gradually  accumulating  of 
late  years  to  prove  that  there  had  existed  some  pre-Celtic  races  in  Britain. 
Without  venturing  in  the  least  to  point  out  all,  let  me  simply  note  two  or 
three.  A  race  of  Megalithic  Builders — if  we  may  so  call  them — who  have 
not  left  in  their  sepulchres,  and  therefore  we  infer  did  not  possess,  in  their 
earlier  era  at  least,  any  metal  tools  or  weapons,  seem  to  have  either  pre- 
ceded the  Celts,  or  to  have  formed  our  first  Celtic  or  Aryan  wave ;  and 
judging  from  the  extent  of  their  remains  in  massive  chambered  catacombs 

*  Tacitus:  Vita  Agricolte,  XXXVI. 


80      CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

and  cromleclis,  in  numerous  cyclopean  forts,  gigantic  stone  circles,  etc., 
they  must  have  held  the  country  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  and 
overspread  the  whole  of  it  by  the  diffusion  of  their  popvxlation.  From 
their  remains,  as  left  in  their  tombs  and  elsewhere,  we  know  that  they 
employed  weApons  and  tools  of  horn,  wood,  and  polished  stone ;  manu- 
factured rude  hand-made  pottery ;  had  ornaments  of  jet,  bone,  etc. ;  partially 
reared  and  used  cereals,  as  indicated  by  their  stone  mullers  and  querns ; 
and  possessed  the  dog,  ox,  sheep,  and  other  domestic  quadrupeds.  I  do 
not  stop  to  discuss  the  various  questions  whether  these  Megalithic  Builders 
did  or  did  not  hollow  out  and  use  the  archaic  single-tree  canoes  found  on 
our  shores,  rivers,  and  lakes; — whether  they  were  the  people  that  anciently 
whaled  in  the  Firth  of  Forth  with  harpoons  of  deer-horn,  when  its  upper 
waters  were  either  much  higher  or  its  shores  much  lower  than  at  present ; — 
whether  they  or  another  race  built  the  earliest  stone-age  c^'annoges  or  lake- 
habitations  ; — and  again  whether  there  was  not  an  antecedent  population 
of  simple  fishers  and  hunters,  totally  unacauainted  with  the  rearing  of  corn 
and  cattle,  and  who  have  bequeathed  to  archaeology  all  their  sparse  and 
sole  historic  records  in  casual  relics  of  their  food,  dress,  and  weapons  buried 
in  lieaps  and  mounds  of  kitchen-refuse,  which  they  have  incidentally  accu- 
mulated and  left  upon  our  own  and  upon  other  northern  and  Avestern  coasts 
of  Europe.  Whether  these  formed  one,  or  two,  or  more  races,  let  me  add, 
that  long  anterior  to  the  Megalithic  Builders  there  certainly  existed  in  our 
island  a  tribe  of  inhabitants  that  dwelt,  in  part  at  least,  in  natural  or  arti- 
ficial caves,  where  their  bones  and  their  contemporaneous  relics  have  been 
found;  who  possessed  implements  and  weapons  of  stone  and  flint,  but 
rough,  and  not  polished  like  those  of  the  Megalithic  Builders;  who  seem- 
ingly possessed  no  pottery;  who — if  we  may  judge  from  the  want  of 
rubbers  and  querns  to  grind  corn-food — had  little  or  no  knowledge  of 
agriculture;  and  who  lived  in  those  far-distant  times  when  the  colossal 
fossil  elephant  or  mammoth,  the  woolly-haired  rhinoceros,  the  gigantic 
cave-bear,  the  great  hysena,  etc.,  wei'e  contemporaneous  inhabitants  with 
him  of  the  soil  of  Britain;  when  the  British  lion  was  a  veritable  reality  and 
not  a  heraldic  myth;  and  when  possibly  England  was  still  geologically 
united  to  the  Continent,  and  the  Thames  was  only  a  tributary  of  the  Rhine. 


KAU.i  COMMENTS  BY  SIMPSON  AND  TATE.  81 

I  am  not  aware  that  we  have  yet  sufficient  evidence  to  consider  as  of  the 
same  family  with  these  aucient  Cave-men,  or  as  of  a  race  still  anterior  to 
them,  the  Flint-folk  of  the  southern  counties  of  England,  whose  unpolished 
flint  hatchets — besides  being  found  in  great  abundance  on  the  banks  of  the 
Somme  and  Loire — have  been  discovered  in  various  parts  in  the  river-drifts 
of  South  England,  and  an  excellent  specimen  of  which,  along  with  the 
bones  of  an  elephant,  was  dug  up,  in  the  last  century,  from  a  gravel-pit 
near  Gray's  Inn  Lane,  in  the  centre  of  London  itself"* 

The  question  to  which  of  these  races  of  man  the  first  sculpturings  of 
cups  and  rings  are  to  be  referred,  is  one  which,  Professor  Simpson  tliinks, 
cannot  be  positively  answered  in  the  present  state  of  archaeological  knowl- 
edge. He  wants  further  data  as  to  their  distribution  in  Europe  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  Admitting  the  fact  that  such  carvings  were 
executed  by  the  "Megalithic  Builders"  of  the  age  oi polished  stone,  he  thinks 
the  practice  may  possibly  have  antedated  the  era  of  that  race,  and,  further, 
expresses  his  belief  in  its  continuance  through  the  bronze  period  and  even 
later  times,  f 

Mr.  Tate  arrives  at  somewhat  different  conclusions.  He  infers  from 
the  wide  distribution  of  the  cup  and  circle-carvings  over  the  British  Islands 
"  that  at  the  period  when  they  were  made,  the  whole  of  Britain  was  peopled 
by  tribes  of  one  race,  who  were  imbued  with  the  same  superstitions,  and 
expressed  them  by  the  same  symbols  "  He  refers  to  the  invariable  asso- 
ciation of  these  carvings  with  ancient  British  forts,  oppida,  villages  and 
sepulchres  as  an  evidence  of  all  having  been  the  work  of  the  people  who 
dwelt  in  these  places,  and  were  buried  in  these  tombs.  Though  alluding 
to  the  existence  of  ante-Celtic  races  in  Britain,  he  thinks  it  ma}-  be  inferred 
"that  the  old  remains  in  Northumberland,  the  sculptiu-es  included,  belong 
to  the  Celtic  race,  though  they  may  tell  the  history  of  many  centuries  prior 
to  the  Christian  era."  The  Northumbrian  sculptures  being  executed  on 
sandstone,  he  does  not  deny  the  possibility  of  their  having  been  carved 
with  stone  instruments ;  yet  he  is  of  opinion  that  metal  was  known  in  the 
district  when  the  sculptures  were  made,  as  bronze  and  copper  objects  occur 

*  This  often-mentioned  specimen,  preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  is  figured  on  p.  522  of  Evans's 
"Ancient  Stone  Implements,  etc.,  of  Great  Britain." 
t  Simpson  :  Archaic  Sculptures,  etc. ;  p.  7a-lo4. 
6  L  S 


82  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

in  their  neighljorliood.  In  North  Northumberland,  indeed,  considerable 
numbers  of  bronze  celts  have  been  discovered,  and  also  bronze  daggers, 
spear-heads  and  swords.  Mr.  Tate  further  refers  to  querns  taken  from  some 
Northumbrian  forts,  and  made  of  hard,  untractable  porphyrj^,  which,  he 
believes,  conld  not  have  been  fashioned  by  any  stone  tool,  and  he  therefore 
argues  that  the  Northumbrian  sculptures  generally  were  made  by  means  of 
tools  of  metal,  probably  of  bronze.  Mi*.  Tate  seems  to  underrate  the 
efficienc}^  of  flint  instruments,  when  applied  to  hard  stones.* 

Mr.  Tate  offers  no  definite  view  with  regard  to  the  meaning  of  these 
rock-sculptures,  but  considers  them  as  symbolical — most  probably  of  relig- 
ious ideas.  However,  he  seems  to  have  a  leaning  toward  the  belief  that 
they  originated  with  the  Druids,  and  were  connected  in  diffei'ent  ways  with 
the  rites  of  that  powerful  priesthood.  In  support  of  this  very  cautiously 
advanced  view  he  quotes  passages  from  Pliny,  Mela  and  Strabo. 

*  The  qaestiou  Tvas  practically  solved  during  the  International  Anthropological  Congress,  held  at 
Paris  in  the  year  1867.  There  are  in  the'Museum  of  Saint-Geruiain  casts  of  the  sculptured  stone  plates 
forming  portions  of  the  tumulus  dolmen  on  the  Island-  of  Gavr'  Inis,  Brittany.  These  slabs,  consist- 
ing of  compact  granite,  exhibit,  as  we  have  seen,  surfaces  covered  all  over  with  intricate  curved  lines 
and  other  designs.  Tlie  savants  who  were  present  considered  it  imitossible  to  execute  such  sculptures 
without  employiug  tools  of  steel  or  hardened  ^ronze.  But  M.  Alexandre  Bcrtrand,  the  director  of  the 
museum,  was  of  ditt'erent  opiuion,  and  proceeded  to  make  a  trial.  A  piece  of  the  same  granite  was 
worked  with  stone  imiilements,  and  the  experiment  proved  to  be  a  perfect  success.  After  a  day's  labor, 
a  circle  and  a  few  lines  were  engraved.  A  chisel  of  polished  flint  used  during  the  whole  time  was 
hardly  injured ;  one  of  nephrite  had  become  somewhat  blunted,  and  a  similar  imiilement  of  greenstone 
still  more.  But  the  edge  of  a  bronze  .ixe  used  in  the  operation  was  iustantly  bent,  and  it  became  evi- 
dent that  those  sculptures  had  not  been  executed  with  bronze,  but  with  stoue.  This  account  is  given 
by  Professor  Carl  Vogt  in  one  of  a  series  of  letters  addressed,  in  1867,  from  Paris  to  the  Cologne  Gazette. 
I  have  quoted  it  before  this  in  the  Smithsonian  publication  entitled  "The  Palenque  Tablet  in  the  United. 
States  National  Museum." 

A  similar  experiment,  made  at  the  suggestion  of  Professor  Simpson,  is  thus  described  by  liim: — 

"  I  have  found  experimentally  that  the  rings  and  cups  can  be  engraved  deeply  and  without  dif- 
ficulty upon  the  Argyleshire  schist,  and  even  upon  hard  Aberdeen  granite,  with  a  flint  celt  and  a  wooden 
mallet.  In  the  Edinburgh  Antiquarian  Museum  there  is  a  block  of  gray  Aberdeen  granite  from  Kintore, 
forming  one  of  the  sculptured  stones  of  Scotland,  and  containing  upon  one  side  two  crescents,  etc.  On 
the  back  of  this  hard  granite  Mr.  Robert  Paul,  the  doorkeeper  of  the  Museum,  tried  for  me  the  experi- 
ment I  allude  to,  and  cut,  in  two  hours,  two-tliirds  of  a  circle  with  a  flint  and  a  wooden  mallet.  The 
flint  used  was  about  three  inches  long,  an  inch  in  breadth,  and  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  thickness. 
The  circle  which  he  sculptured  with  it  in  the  granite  was  seven  inches  in  diameter;  and  the  incision 
itself  was  nearly  three-quarters  of  an  inch  broad,  above  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  depth,  and  very  smooth 
on  its  cut  surface.  In  hewing  out  the  circle  with  the  flint,  its  sharp  tips  from  time  to  time  broke  off, 
but  another  sharj)  edge  was  always  immediately  obtained  by  merely  turning  it  round. 

"The  result  of  this  simjjle  and  decisive  experiment  seems  to  me  to  be  important,  as  showing  that 
if  these  archaic  cuttings  could  be  sculptured  alike  either  by  stone  or  by  metallic  tools,  their  mere 
character  and  form  afford  no  evidence  whatsoever  that  they  were  not  carved  till  after  the  discovery 
and  use  of  metallic  implements.  In  other  words,  the  experiment  shows  that  they  might  have  been 
I)roduced  before  the  introduction  of  metals — or  during  the  Stone  age." — Archaic  Sculptures,  etc.;  \}.  122. 


EAU]  COMMENTS  BY  TATE.  83 

"As  the  functions  of  tlie  Druids  were  varied",  he  observes,  "so  might 
these  sacred  stones  be  used  for  several  purposes.  On  them,  as  altars,  sacri- 
fices may  have  been  slain  to  avert  either  personal  or  state  calamities;  some 
of  the  figures  may  be  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  gods  to  whom  they  were 
dedicated ;  the  philosophical  views  of  the  Druids  may  be  symbolically  rep- 
resented in  the  circles  combined  with  circles  on  the  Routing  Linn  Stone,* 
which,  situated  in  a  wild  district  and  probably  in  the  midst  of  forests,  would 
be  such  a  place  as  the  Druids  would  choose,  wherein  to  teach  their  occult 
doctrines  and  practise  their  supei'stitious  rites.  Some  of  the  groups  of  the 
concentric  circles  may  show  their  idea  of  the  motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies; 
and  the  radial  lines  might  set  fortli  the  'influence  and  ability  of  the  immor- 
tal gods,'  as  extending  through  and  beyond  the  orbits  of  the  heavenly 
bodies;  the  plant-like  figures  might  enable  them  to  expound  'the  nature  of 
things,'  as  seen  in  vegetation  ;  possibly  the  grooves  passing  from  the  centre 
of  one  system  of  circles  to  another  might  symbolize  the  passage  of  a  soul 
from  one  state  of  being  into  another  and  a  higher  state.  And  in  addition, 
I  cannot  but  think  that  one  of  the  chief  uses  of  those  sacred  stones  was  for 
magic  and  necromancy.  The  religious  and  philosophical  significancy  of 
the  figures  would  add  to  their  impressiveness  on  the  popular  mind,  when 
used  for  this  purpose,  and  magnify  the  mysterious  power  of  the  Druid 
priest  or  magician  when  he  cast  a  horoscope,  or  endeavored  by  incantations 
to  avert  personal  or  public  calamities." 

These  passages,  I  repeat,  contain  Mr.  Tate's  suggestions  as  to  what  the 
significance  of  the  sculptures  possibly  might  be,  being  by  no  means  intended 
to  convey  a  matured  opinion ;  and  in  order  to  show  how  far  he  is  from  con- 
sidering the  problem  as  solved,  I  quote  here  the  concluding  paragraph  of 
his  work : — 

"Those  who  are  not  content  unless  every  mystery  is  fully  explained 
may  feel  dissatisfied,  that  after  all  the  labor  and  research  bestowed  on  the 
inscribed  rocks,  we  cannot  read  them  ofi"  as  from  a  lettered  book.  Before, 
however,  more  definite  results  can  be  arrived  at,  further  investigations  must 
be  made  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Two  lines  of  research  may  yield 
information ;  one  among  the  Laps  in  the  far  North,  and  the  other,  with 

*  Kepresented  ou  Plate  I  of  his  work. 


84  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPHDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

more  hope  of  success,  in  the  early  home  of  the  Aryan  family.  Something, 
however,  has  been  achieved — materials  for  aiding  in  the  fuller  solution  oi 
the  problem  have  been  placed  on  record — an  advanced  starting-point  made 
for  future  inquiries — and  a  description  and  representation  preserved  of  mar- 
velous sculptures,  which  time  and  the  elements  will  eventually  obliterate."* 

Professor  Desor  devotes  a  considerable  portion  of  his  often-quoted 
pamphlet  to  a  discussion  of  the  probable  meaning  of  the  primitive  rock- 
sculptures,  more  especially  those  of  the  simple  cup  type.  In  referring  to 
M.  de  Bonstetten,  who  considers  the  cup-shaped  cavities  in  general  as  the 
work  of  nature  (weathering  out  of  imbedded  nodules,  etc.),  he  admits  that 
such  an  explanation  may  be  applied  in  certain  cases,t  but  that  on  the  whole 
M.  de  Bonstetten's  view  appears  totally  untenable.  Professor  Desor  is  not 
very  favorable  to  the  altar  theory,  advocated  by  Nilsson,  Troyon  and 
others,  because  the  cups  often  appear  on  slanting  and  even  vertical  surfaces, 
and  thus  could  not  have  served  for  holding  the  blood  of  victims,  or  liba- 
tions of  any  kind.  Nor  does  he  agree  with  Mr.  Westropp,  who  believes 
that  the  cups  have  no  significance  whatever,  but  were  excavated  by  the 
prehistoric  people  with  no  other  object  in  view  but  that  of  passing  the  time; 
and  he  likewise  rejects  the  idea,  expressed  by  others,  that  they  are  simply 
of  a  decorative  character.  Having,  in  addition,  alluded  to  several  other 
theories — most  of  them  already  brought  to  the  reader's  notice — Professor 
Desor  observes  as  follows: — 

"If  the  cups  on  our  erratic  blocks  are  not  ornaments,  boundary-marks, 
hieroglyphs,  or  simply  the  fancy-work  of  idle  herdsmen — what  else  can 
they  signify  ?  We  hold  with  Dr.  Keller  that  they  wei'e  chiefly  made  for 
the  purpose  of  marking  indelibly  certain  blocks  designed  to  recall  a  cir- 
cumstance or  an  event,  the  recollection  of  which  was  of  a  nature  to  be 
perpetuated.  J  It  was  doubtless  left  to  oral  tradition  to  explain  their  purport, 
and  to  transmit  it  from  generation  to  generation.  Hence  the  stones  thus 
marked  were  invested  with  a  monumental  character — using  the  term  in  its 
most  primitive  acceptation — like  the  menhirs  and  the   blocks  which  the 

*Tate:  The  Ancieut  Sculptured  Eocks,  etc.;  p.  35-44. 

tProfessor  Simpson  noticed  in  several  instances  natural  ciip-excavations. — Archaic Sculphires,  etc.; 
p.  3. 

t  lu  applying  the  term  Denkstcin  to  the  Ober-Farrenstiidt  cup-stone,  Wagener  expresses  the  same 
view.     See  page  24  of  this  publication. 


iiAU]  DESOR'S  VIEWS— CUPPED  ASPERSOEIA  IK  SWEDEN.  85 

pati'iurclis  put  up  in  commemoration  of  important  events.  They  were  the 
natural  auxiliaries  of  traditions,  without  being  their  interpreters.  This  was 
more  than  sufficient  to  render  them  popular.  It  is  not  surprising  that  they 
were  the  objects  of  a  certain  veneration,  which,  indeed,  lias  not  yet  ceased 
in  our  days  in  solne  parts  of  Europe,  where  they  are  denominated  'sacred 
stones'  by  the  people."* 

Mr.  Rivett-Carnac's  views  in  relation  to  the  2^i"imitive  sculptures  of 
India  have  been  given,  in  connection  with  his  descriptive  account,  in  a  pre- 
ceding part  of  this  publication,  and  I  need  not  revert  to  them  for  the  present. 

Though  Professor  Nilsson's  theories  are  likewise  known  to  the  reader, 
I  have  to  draw  attention  to  his  statements  concerning  the  continuance  of 
cup-cutting  in  comparatively  modern  times.  He  is  of  opinion  that  the  first 
Christian  missionaries  who  came  to  Sweden,  found  in  certain  parts  of  the 
country  a  population  still  sacrificing  on  cupped  Baal  altars.  In  order  to 
wean  the  people  in  a  gentle  manner  from  this  practice,  he  thinks,  the  priests 
first  used  the  cupped  boulders  as  holy-water  stones,  and  afterward  intro- 
duced aspersoria  in  the  shape  of  cupped  stone  vessels  in  the  churches. 
Indeed,  he  describes  and  figures  several  of  these  vessels  belonging  to 
Scanian  churches  in  which,  before  the  era  of  Protestantism,  Catholic  wor- 
ship was  performed.  Fig.  .'")9  represents  one  of  the  holy-water  basins 
figured  by  Nilsson,  which  is  still  seen  in  a  church  at  Stro,  in  the  Bishopric 
of  Lund.  Its  upper  surface  shows  five  cup-excavations,  but  is  otherwise 
smooth.  A  transition  from  this  simple  to  a  somewhat  more  elaborate  device 
is  shown  by  Fig.  60,  likewise  copied  from  Nilsson's  work,  and  representing 
a  holy-water  basin  in  a  church  at  Oennarp,  in  Scania.  Its  slightly  hollowed 
upper  surface  exhibits  five  excavations,  namely,  a  cross  in  the  centre  and  a 
cup  in  each  corner.f 

There  is  but  little  doubt  that  this  Christian  contrivance  of  employing  holy- 
water  basins  with  cup-excavations  is  the  survival  of  a  preceding  heathenish 
practice  ;  but  it  is  more  than  questionable  whether  these  Chi'istian  church- 
vessels  were  designed  to  perpetuate,  as  it  were,  the  recollection  of  what 
Professor  Nilsson  considers  as  sacrificial  altars.     Taking  it  for  granted  that 

*  Desor :  Picrres  i\  ficucllcs ;  p.  18  and  paasiir 
t  Nilsson  :  Das  Bronzealter ;  Nachtra;;,  S.  4? 


36  GUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTUBES. 

cup-cuttings  were  still  made  in  Sweden  when  the  work  of  converting  the 
inhabitants  from  paganism  was  begun,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  orig- 
inal motive  for  cup-cutting  then  still  actuated  the  people  of  that  country. 
We  must  at  least  take  into  account  the  possibility  of  such  mutations,  the 
more  so  as  examples  are  not  wanting.  In  most  countries  of  Europe  and  in 
China  and  Japan,  for  instance,  popular  superstition  even  now  invests  pre- 
historic stone  implements,  such  as  axes,  celts  and  arrow-heads,  with  magic 
powers,  though  the  remote  ancestors  of  the  believers  certainly  used  such 
weapons  and  tools.  What  was  originally  an  object  employed  in  daily  life, 
became  in  the  course  of  time  a  charm. 

Some  curious  superstitions  in  relation  to  cupped  stones  are  still  in  vogue 
among  the  vmeducated  people  of  different  European  countries.  As  we  have 
seen,  they  are  called  elfstenar  in  Sweden.  "The  elfs,"  says  Miss  Mestorf, 
"are  the  souls  of  the  dead;  they  frequently  dwell  in  or  below  stones,  and 
stand  in  various  relations  to  the  living.  If  their  quiet  is  disturbed,  or  their 
dwelling-place  desecrated,  or  if  due  respect  is  not  paid  to  them,  they  will 
revenge  themselves  by  afflicting  the  perpetrators  with  diseases  or  other 
misfortunes.  For  this  reason  people  take  care  to  secure  the  favor  of  the 
'little  ones'  by  sacrifices,  or  to  pacify  them  when  offended.  Their  claims 
are  very  modest :  a  little  butter  or  grease,  a  copper  coin,  a  flower  or  a  rib- 
bon will  satisfy  them.  If  they  have  inflicted  disease,  some  object  worn  by 
the  sick  person,  such  as  a  pin  or  a  button,  will  reconcile  them.  A  Swedish 
proprietor  of  an  estate  (in  Uppland),  who  had  caused  an  elfstone  to  be 
transported  to  his  park,  found  a  few  days  afterward  small  sacrificial  gifts 
lying  in  the  cups.  In  the  Stockholm  Museum  are  preserved  rag-dolls,  which 
had  been  found  upon  an  elfstone."  *  These  probably  had  been  deposited 
by  women  who  wished  to  become  mothers.  Thus  we  see  the  cup-stones  in 
Sweden  applied  to  the  use  of  altars ;  their  cups,  however,  instead  of  holding 
the  blood  of  victims,  as  Nilsson  conjectured,  serve  to  receive  the  harmless 
gifts  of  a  simple-minded  peasantry. 

The  cup-stone  question  has  of  late  frequently  been  discussed  in  the 
annual  meetings  of  the  German  Anthropological  Society  as  well  as  in  the 
meetings  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Berlin,  Messrs.  Virchow,  Desor, 

*  Corrospondenz-Blatt  der  Deutsclien  Authropologischen  Gesellscbaft,  1879,  S.  4. 


RAU]  SUPEESTITIONS-CUP-MARKS  OX  CHURCHES.  87 

Friedel,  Mehlis,  Schaaffhausen,  and  Voss  being  conspicuous  among  the  par- 
ticipants in  the  debates.  Much  of  what  was  said  in  these  meetings  bearing 
on  the  subject  has  been  brought  to  the  reader's  notice,  according  to 
original  sources  ;  in  addition,  however,  various  communications  relating  to 
the  occurrence  of  cup-excavations  and  furrows  on  the  outside  of  the  walls 
of  churches  were  made  on  these  occasions. 

It  appears  that  Dr.  E.  Veckenstedt,  a  member  of  the  Berlin  Anthro- 
pological Society,  first  pointed  out  the  existence  of  these  curious  maidcs  on 
a  church  at  Cottbus,  in  the  Province  of  Brandenburg,  Prussia.*  They  were 
afterward  noticed  under  similar  circumstances  at  Guben,  in  the  same  prov- 
ince.! Mr.  E.  Friedel,  Director  of  one  of  the  Berlin  museums  (3Idrkisches 
Provinzial-Muscum),  becoming  much  interested  in  the  subject,  succeeded 
in  discovering  them  on  churches  in  many  other  places  of  that  province 
(Spandau,  Prenzlau,  Angermiiude,  Strausberg,  Fiirstenwalde  and  Vetschau). 
He  further  found  the  marks  on  churches  in  Pomerauia  (Greifswald,  Stralsund, 
Giitzkow,  Lassan,  Anklam,  Wolgast,  Sagard,  Altenkirchen,  Bergen  on  the 
Island  of  Riigen;  Gristow,  Ilanshagen  and  Neuenkirchen  near  Greifswald; 
Morgenitz  and  Mellenthin  on  the  Island  of  Usedom;  Stettin);  and  extending 
liis  researches  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Germany,  he  found  cup-marks  on 
churches  in  Sweden  (Malmo,  Upsala,  and  Wexio).  Mr.  Woldt  noticed 
them  in  Berlin,  and,  according  to  Dr.  Veckenstedt,  they  occur  in  Go.slar 
(Hanover)  and  Brunswick.  Dr.  Voss  saw  them  in  Baireuth  (Bavaria). f  Mr. 
W.  Schwartz  sent  to  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Berlin  a  report  concern- 
ing cups  on  churches  in  the  Province  of  Posen;§  and  Professor  Virchow, 
finally,  discovered  himself  these  artificial  excavations  on  the  walls  of  ecclesi- 
astic buildings  in  Switzerland  (Thun  and  Berne)  and  in  the  valley  of  the 
Rhine.  II     Many  additional  discoveries  of  the  kind  are  to  be  expected. 

The  Prussian  churches  on  which  these  curious  markings  have  been 
observed,  appear  to  be  mostly  built  of  brick,  and  the  excavations,  of  course, 
are  made  in  that  material.     They  are  usually,  though  not  always,  found  on 

*  Verhandlnngen  der  Berliner  Anthropologiselien  Gesellschaft ;  SUznng  vom  19.  Jnni  1875,  S.  18. 

tlbicL;  Sitzuug  vom  21.  Juli  1877,  S.  23. 
t  Ibid. ;  Sitzuug  vom  16.  Februar  1878,  S.  2:5. 
JIbid.,  Sitzuug  vom  15.  November  1879,  S.  18. 
II  Ibid.,  Sitzuug  vom  18.  October  1879,  S.  36. 


88  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAIIIAN  SCULPTURES. 

the  southern  side  of  the  churches,  near  an  entrance,  and,  as  a  rule,  phiced 
within  the  reach  of  a  man's  arm.  The  cups  are  smaller  than  most  of  those 
seen  on  blocks,  measuring  only  from  two  to  four  centimeters  in  diameter, 
and  are  commonly  distributed  without  apparent  order.  Sometimes  they  are 
partly  executed  on  the  mortar  between  the  bricks,  a  fact  demonstrating 
beyond  doubt  that  they  were  made  after  the  erection  of  the  churches.  Such 
a  case  is  well  shown  in  Fig.  6 1 ,  representing  a  portion  of  the  portal  of  the 
MarienUrche  (Saint  Mary's  Church)  at  Greifswald,  in  Pomerania.*  The  two 
uppermost  cups,  it  will  be  seen,  are  partly  excavated  in  the  mortar.  The 
lowest  course  shows  two  furrows.  In  spme  instances  such  markings  have 
been  observed  on  stone-built  churches. 

It  appears  more  than  probable  that  the  practice  of  thus  marking  the 
outside  of  these  buildings  indicates  the  continuation  of  a  pagan  custom, 
though  in  these  cases  the  cups  may  not  have  the  significance  of  those  seen 
on  boulders  and  megalithic  monuments.  I  already  have  expressed  a  simi- 
lar doubt  while  speaking  of  the  cupped  holy-water  basins.  The  motives 
which  induced  people  in  comparatively  modern  times  to  mark  churches  with 
cups  and  furrows  are  not  yet  known.  The  theory  that  they  are  the  work 
of  children  will  not  explain  the  wide  extent  and  uniformity  of  the  practice, 
though  mischievous  urchins  may  have  amused  themselves  now  and  then  by 
adding  to  the  number  of  markings.!  They  evidently  are  not  bullet-marks, 
as  has  been  suggested:  in  fact,  none  of  the  views  thus  far  advanced  to 
account  for  their  presence  appears  to  me  satisfactory.  The  cups  on  churches 
in  Germany  seem  to  have  been  thought  to  possess  healing  qualities.  Fever- 
sick  people  blew,  as  it  were,  the  disease  into  the  cavities.  According  to 
other  accounts,  the  patients  swallowed  the  powder  produced  in  grinding 
out  the  cups.  The  latter  practice  has  not  yet  become  obsolete  in  France; 
for  Professor  Desor  learned  from  M.  Falsan  that  in  the  church  of  Voanas, 
nearBourg,  Department  of  the  Ain,  a  large  stone,  called  La  Pierre  de  Saint- 
Lottp,  is  preserved,  into  which  the  sick  and  impotent  grind  holes,  and  drink 
the  pulverized  matter,  which,  as  they  believe,  cures  the  fever  and  renews 

*The  illustration  is  taken  from  an  article  by  Miss  Mestorf,  published  in  "Mat6riaux",  1878,  ji.  277. 
I  have  reversed  the  position  of  the  illustration,  supposing  that  it  was  wrongly  inserted  in  the  French 
pciiodical.     It  accompanied  origin.ally  one  of  Mr.  Fricdel's  publications. 

+  VerhanOJungen  der  Berliner  Authropologiscben  Gesellschaft ;  Sitzung  voni  IG.  Fcbruar  1878,  S.  25. 


UAU.)     CUP- HARKS  ON  CHURCHES— THEORIES  AND  SUPERSTITIONS.     89 

the  vital  strength.  Another  stone,  known  as  La  Pierre  de  Saint- Clement,  in 
the  village  of  Nanney,  in  the  above-named  department,  is  used  for  the  same 
purpose.  In  the  Swiss  Canton  of  Valais,  Professor  Desor  further  states, 
ailing  persons  drill  into  the  stones  of  a  certain  chapel,  and  swallow  the  dust 
thus  obtained.*  Mr.  Friedel  learned  from  a  citizen  of  Greifswald  that  the 
cups  were  still  resorted  to  in  his  time  for  charming  away  the  fever.  The 
BiscJiofs-Stein,  near  Niemegk,  mentioned  on  page  24  of  this  publication,  Mr. 
Fi-iedel  observes,  is  still  visited  by  patients  and  quack  doctors  who  rub  it 
with  grease,  in  order  to  bring  about  cures.  In  a  few  instances,  it  seems, 
the  inside  of  cups  on  German  churches  was  found  to  exhibit  traces  of  grease. 
The  same  gentleman  has  drawn  attention  to  the  anointing  of  stones  prac- 
tised for  jeligions  purposes  by  the  ancient  Jews.  He  refers  to  Genesis 
XXVIII,  18:  "And  Jacob  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  took  the  stone 
that  he  had  put  for  his  pillows,  and  set  it  up  for  a  j^illar,  and  poured  oil  upon 
the  top  of  it";  and  to  Zechariah  III,  9:  "For  behold  the  stone  that  I  have 
laid  before  Joshua;  upon  one  stone  shall  be  seven  eyes;  behold,  I  will 
engrave  the  graving  thereof,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  will  remove 
the  iniquity  of  that  land  in  one  day."  These  "eyes"  were  anointed  with 
oil.f  Such  customs,  however,  may  have  sprung  up  independently  among 
different  nations. 

There  are  some  curious  popular  traditions  connected  with  the  cup- 
excavations  and  grooves  on  churches  in  Germany.  Thus,  the  grooves  on 
the  cathedral  at  Brunswick  pass  for  the  claw-marks  of  the  lion  said  to  have 
followed  Duke  Henry  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria,  surnamed  "the  Lion,"  from 
Palestine  to  Germany.  This  lion,  the  legend  says,  made  the  marks  in  a 
fit  of  rage,  being  unable  to  enter  the  church  in  which  his  master  was 
praying  f  In  Posen  a  tradition  refers  the  cups  to  the  souls  of  the  damned, 
who,  during  their  life-time,  never  had  visited  churches.  They  ground  out 
the  cavities  during  the  night,  and  left  them  as  tokens  of  their  despair  at 
not  being  allowed  access  to  the  closed  churches.§     There  are  other  similar 

*  Correspondenz-Blalt  der  Deutschen  Anthropologischen  Gesellschaft,  1878,  S.  15G. 
t  Verhandlungen  der  Berliner  Anthropologischen  Gesellschaft;   Sitzung  vom  10.  Februar  1878, 
S.  24. 

t  Ibid.,  Sitzung  vom  19.  Juni  1875,  S.  18. 

i  Ibid.,  Sitzung  vom  15.  November  1879,  S.  19. 


90  cur  SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTURES. 

stories  told,  to  wliich  I  will  not  allude,  as  they  have   no  scientific  value 
whatever,  but  simply  show  the  current  of  popular  fancy. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  efforts  of  European  savants — more  especially 
of  those  of  Gennanj'-,  who  show  so  much  interest  in  the  matter — will  ulti- 
mately result  in  clearing  np  the  mystery  that  still  shrouds  the  origin  and 
meaning  of  cup-excavations  and  grooves  on  ecclesiastic  structures. 

I  have  to  allude  once  more  to  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac's  remarkable  discov- 
eries in  India,  and  to  the  views  thereon  based  by  him.  No  one  who  has 
examined  his  publications  in  connection  with  those  of  Simpson  and  Tate  can 
help  admitting  the  striking  resemblance  between  the  cup  and  ring- cuttings 
of  India  and  Great  Britain.  Indeed,  his  theory  that  the  primitive  rock  and 
stone-sculptures  of  those  countries  were  executed  by  people  ak^^  in  race, 
following  similar  customs,  and  observing  similar  forms  of  Avorship,  deserves 
the  highest  attention.  Yet,  after  all,  we  deal  here  for  the  present  with  a 
speculation  and  not  with  an  established  fact.  The  necessary  evidences, 
based  upon  the  discovery  of  cup  and  ring-carvings  in  various  countries  of 
the  Old  'World,  where  thus  far  they  have  not  been  shown  to  exist,  are  at 
present  wanting.  If  they  should  come  to  light  in  the  course  of  time,  we 
may  be  allowed  to  construct  the  ethnological  chain  which  is  still  imperfect. 

Professor  Desor's  Aryan  theory,  as  given  in  a  preceding  part  of  this 
publication,  appears  to  me  truly  captivating,  although  the  difficulties  just 
alluded  to  have,  of  course,  also  to  be  overcome  in  this  case.  In  fact,  Mr. 
Rivett-Carnac  and  Professor  Desor  are  aiming  at  similar  results.  The  last- 
named  gentleman's  view,  formulated  with  great  distinctness,  would  tend  to 
establish  a  kind  of  archaeological  harmony,  by  reducing,  as  it  wei'e,  a 
number  of  factors,  hitherto  not  properly  connected,  to  a  single  principle. 
Leaving  aside  for  a  moment  the  question  touching  megalithic  monuments 
and  primitive  sculptures,  how  well  would  this  theory  explain  the  gap 
existing  between  paljBolithic  and  neolithic  implements,  and  likewise  the 
introduction  of  domestic  animals  so  characteristic  of  the  era  of  polished 
stone.  The  opinion  that  the  Aryans  were  still  in  the  stone  age  at  the 
period  of  their  dispersion  probably  will  gain  more  and  more  ground ;  but 
the  question  concerning  the  original  home  of  this  people,  the  existence  of 
which  was  traced  in  a  manner  somewhat  analogous   to  that  by  which 


i:au.i  theories  01<'  DESOR  AND  EIVETT  CAKNAC.  91 

Leverrier  discovered  the  planet  Neptune,  is  still  an  open  one.  It  should 
also  be  considered  that,  though  the  Mahadeo-worshiping  Saivas  are  (as  I 
judge)  more  or  less  modified  Aryans,  the  Khasias  of  Bengal,  who  are  prom- 
inently mentioned  as  the  modern  builders  of  megalithic  structures,  belong 
to  a  totally  diff'erent  race.  "It  is  at  all  events  worthy  of  remark,"  says 
Miss  Bucliland,  "that  those  who  now  in  India  build  cromlechs,  erect  pillars 
and  circles  of  stones,  and  construct  miniature  kistvaens,  are  not  the  dom- 
inant Aryan  race,  but  the  dark-skinned  aborigines,  descendants  of  the  pre- 
Aryan  occupiers  of  the  soil,  and  that  in  every  country  westward,  wherein 
these  monuments  are  found,  they  are  traditionally  associated  with  a  long- 
forgotten  race.  It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  some  are  assigned  to  giants  and 
some  to  dwarfs."*  Similar  traditions,  it  will  be  remembered,  are  recorded 
by  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac. 

After  all  that  has  been  said  concerning  the  significance  of  the  cup  and 
ring-sculptures  In  the  Old  World,  I  hardly  venture  to  off"er  an  opinion  of 
my  own.  However,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  close  connection  between 
cups  and  rings  has  not  been  sufficiently  considered.  It  certainly  appears 
that  both  belong  to  one  system  of  primitive  sculpture,  of  which  the  former 
seem  to  be  the  earlier  expression ;  and  If,  indeed,  the  combined  cups  and 
rings  are  what  Mr.  Rivett-Carnac  thinks  them  to  be,  a  kindred  purport 
should  be  assigned  to  those  cup-excavations  which  occur  wlthoiat  circles 
and  radial  grooves  on  rocks  and  stones  in  Europe  and  Asia.  I  cannot  see 
how  these  two  kinds  of  sculpture  can  be  separated  from  each  other,  unless 
by  supposing  that  the  primary  application  of  the  cups  was  simply  of  a 
practical  nature,  and  that  afterwartl,  owing  to  the  force  of  habit,  they  vvere 
made  to  enter  into  the  composition  of  more  elaborate  carvings  of  an  entirely 
different  character.     This,  however,  is  rather  doubtful. 

Turning  to  America,  we  find  the  dilHculty  of  approaching  anything 
like  a  solution  of  the  problem  still  greater,  considering  that  here  as  yet  the 
number  of  discovered  cup-stones  is  by  far  too  small  to  permit  the  merest 
attempt  at  generalization.  As  to  the  smaller  Nortli  American  cup-stones,  I 
have  expressed,  though  in  a  guarded  manner,  my  opinions  concerning  their 

*  Biicklniul  (Miss  A.  W. ) :  Notos  on  sonic  Cornish  .anil  Irish  Pre-historic  Monumonta  in  :.Tonnial  of 
Ihc  AnthropnU)gic;il  Insti(u(<i  of  Great  Britain  ami  Ireland;  November,  1879. 


92      CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAKIAN  SCULPTURES. 

jirobable  application — opinions  which  I  am  ready  to  abandon,  as  soon  as 
more  satisfactory  explanations  are  brought  forward.  Regarding  the  larger 
North  American  cupped  stones,  more  especially  that  belonging  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Society  of  Natural  History,  I  am  unable  for  the  present  to  oflfQr  the 
slightest  elucidation. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  whether  the  practice  of  excavating  cups 
in  rocks  was  introduced  in  America  by  immigrants  from  abroad,  or  whether 
it  sprang  u]5  spontaneously  in  the  New  World.  Being  a  believer  in  the 
Darwinian  doctrine  of  evolution,  I  consider  man  as  a  foreign  element  in 
America.  My  reasons  for  that  belief  need  not  be  given  in  this  place  :  they 
are  known  to  all  who  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  great  English  naturalist. 
I  am  further  of  opinion  that  the  present  American  continent  received  its 
population  at  a  very  remote  period,  when,  perhaps,  the  distribution  of  land 
and  sea  was  different  from  what  it  is  now.  The  earliest  immigrants  may 
have  been  so  low  in  the  scale  of  human  development  that  they  yet  lacked 
the  faculty  of  expressing  themselves  in  articulate  language.*  Hovvever,  it 
can  hardly  be  supposed  that  the  peopling  of  America  took  place  at  a  cer- 
tain time  and  was  discontinued  afterward :  on  the  contrary,  there  are  reasons 
which  render  a  continued  connection  with  distant  parts,  more  especially 
with  Asia,  highly  probable.  The  innate  tendency  which  leads  man  inde- 
pendently in  different  parts  of  the  world  to  the  same  or  similar  inventions 
and  conceptions,  provided  that  there  is  a  sufficient  similarity  in  the  external 
conditions  of  existence,  will  account  for  many  customs  and  practices  of  the 
aboriginal  American ;  but  it  fails  to  explain,  for  instance,  the  highly  arti- 
ficial and  complicated  system  of  reckoning  time,  which  was  in  vogue  among 
the  Toltecs,  Mexicans  and  Yucatecs,  and  was  almost  identical  with  the 
system  still  applied  in  Thibet  and  Tartary.  It  hardly  can  be  imagined  that 
a  method  so  intricate  arfd  peculiar  in  its  principle  could  have  originated  in 
different  parts  of  the  world,  and  hence  one  is  almost  driven  to  believe  in 
later  connections  between  the  inhabitants  of  Asia  and  America.t 

*  III  what  other  way  can  we  account  for  the  totally  diverse  characteristics  of  the  numerous  lin- 
guistic families  of  America? 

t  Those  desirous  of  more  precise  information  on  the  subject  will  find  it  in  Humboldt's  "  Vues  dea 
Cordillferes"  (Paris,  1810,  ]>.  125-194),  or  in  the  transl.ation  of  that  work,  known  as  "Humboldt's  Re- 
searches" (London,  1814,  Vol.  I,  p.  276-40D),  and  in  Tylor's"  Anabuac"  (London,  1831,  p.  241,  etc.). 


EAU.)  CONCLUDING  EEMARKS.  93 

The  cups  on  the  Cincinnati  boulder  are  perfectly  similar  to  those  on 
many  stones  in  the  Old  "World,  and  it  is  probable  that  they  owe  their  origin 
to  the  same  motives.  If  these  motives*  arose  from  some  religious  concep- 
tion, we  might  feel  inclined  to  trace  the  origin  of  American  cup-cutting 
to  Asia.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  cups  were  designed  for  a  practical 
purpose,  the  custom  of  excavating  them  may  have  sprung  up  in  America  as 
well  as  elsewhere. 

My  task  is  now  finished.  It  was  my  chief  object  to  draw  attention  to 
a  very  curious  class  of  North  American  antiquities  as  yet  but  little  known, 
and  thus  to  bring  them  within  the  range  of  a  closer  observation,  which 
possibly  may  lead  to  a  better  understanding  of  their  meaning.  As  stated 
on  the  title-page,  I  have  tried,  moreover,  to  present  the  subject  under  dis- 
cussion in  its  entirety — a  mode  of  treatment  which,  I  hope,  will  not  be 
deemed  an  objectionable  feature  of  this  publication. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE, 

While  treating  in  these  pages  of  primitive  American  sculptures  bear- 
ing some  analogy  to  those  observed  in  the  Old  World,  I  omitted  to  mention 
the  incised  rock  in  Forsyth  County,  Georgia,  briefl}^  described  and  figured 
by  Colonel  Charles  C.  Jones  on  pages  04  and  65  of  the  "Journal  of  the  An- 
thropological Institute  of  New  York"  (Vol.  I,  New  York,  l,S71-'72).  The 
subjoined  illustrations  are  those  published  by  Colonel  Jones,  who  kindly 
loaned  me  the  wood-cuts. 


South  side  of  the  above. 

Here  follows  his  description: — 

"In  Forsyth  County,  Georgia,  is  a  carved  or  incised  boulder  of  fine- 
grained granite,  about  nine  feet  long,  four  feet  six  inches  high,  and  three 
feet  broad  at  its  widest  point.  The  figures  are  cut  in  the  boulder  from 
one-half  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch  deep. 

95 


9G  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTBER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

"As  yet  no  interpretation  of  these  figures  has  been  offeied,  nor  is  it 
known  by  whom  or  for  what  purpose  they  were  made;  but  it  is  generally 
believed  they  were  the  work  of  the  Cherokees.  On  the  eastern  end  of  .the 
boulder,  running  vertically,  is  a  line  of  dots,  like  drill-holes,  eighteen  in 
number,  connected  by  an  incised  line." 

The  character  of  the  sculptures  being  shown  by  the  illustrations,  I  need 
not  add  any  further  remarks. 


SUMMARY. 

Introduction. — Pierres  a  ecuelles,  Schalensteine,  cup-stones,  definition; 
reference  to  Prof.  Desor's  pamphlet  entitled  "Les  Pierres  ii  lilcuelles",  p.  7. — 
Occurrence  of  cup-stones  in  America,  p.  8. 

Part  I. — Primitive  Lapidarian  Sculptures  in  Europe  and  Asia. 

Scotland,  etc. — "Archaic  Sculptures  of  Cups,  Circles,  etc.,  upon  Stones 
and  Rocks  in  Scotland,  England,  and  other  Countries,"  by  Prof  J.  Y.  Simp- 
son; occurrence  of  cup-shaped  cavities  and  other  primitive  sculptures  in 
the  British  Islands,  more  especially  in  Scotland,  on  megalithic  monuments, 
in  weems  or  underground  houses,  in  fortified  buildings,  in  and  near  ancient 
towns  and  camps,  on  the  surface  of  isolated  rocks,  on  isolated  stones,  p.  9- 
10. — Simpson's  classification  of  primitive  sculptures:  single  cups,  cups  sur- 
rounded by  a  single  ring,  cups  surrounded  by  a  series  of  concentric  com- 
plete rings,  cups  surrounded  by  a  series  of  concentric  but  incomplete  rings, 
having  a  straight  radial  groove,  cups  surrounded  by  concentric  rings  and 
flexed  lines,  concentric  rings  without  a  central  cup,  concentric  circular  lines 
of  the  form  of  a  spii'al  or  volute,  p.  10-11. — Chief  deviations  from  the 
principal  types;  cups  connected  by  grooves;  examples  of  Scottish  cup  and 
ring-cuttings;  megalithic  structures,  etc.,  mentioned  by  Prof  Simpson, 
which  exhibit  cup-cavities  unaccompanied  by  other  sculptures,  p.  11-14. 

England. — Reference  to  Mr.  George  Tate's  work  "The  Ancient  British 
Sculptured  Rocks  of  Northumberland  and  the  Eastern  Borders";  Northum- 
brian sculptures  analogous  to  those  hitherto  considered;  absence  of  the  spiral 
line;  cups  always  accompanied  by  other  designs;  the  sculptures  occur  on 
megalithic  monuments  or  within  or  near  ancient  camps,  p.  15-16. — Small 
cup-stones  discovered  by  Rev.  William  Green  well  in  British  barrows;  they 

7  L   S  97 


98  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

generally  were  found  in  baiTOws  containing  burned  human  remains,  p.  16— 
17. 

Ireland. — Cup  and  ring-cuttings  found  in  Ireland;  they  are  often  asso- 
ciated with  other  devices,  such  as  stars,  rosettes,  crosses,  triangles,  zigzags, 
etc.;  "the  Hag's  Chair"  at  Lough  Crew,  near  Oldcastle;  incised  stones  in 
the  cairn  at  Lough  Crew,  and  in  the  cairns  of  New  Grange  and  Dowth, 
near  Drogheda;  progressive  development  shown  in  L-ish  sculpture,  p.  17-1(S. 

France. — Sculptures  on  dolmen-stones  in  Brittany,  exhibiting  an  ad- 
vanced stage  of  primitive  art;  incised  chamber-stones  in  the  tumulus  of 
Gavr'  Inis;  cup-cuttings  in  Brittany,  p.  18-19. — Cupped  stones  in  Southern 
France;  "Le  Cailhaou  des  Pourics,"  near  Luchon  (Pyrenees) ;  in  the  valley 
of  the  Rhone;  "La  Boule  de  Gargantua"  in  the  Department  of  the  Ain; 
cupped  rock  in  situ  in  the  Lozere  Department,  p.  19-20. 

Switzerland. — Frequency  of  cupped  boulders  in  Switzerland;  cupped 
rock  near  Mont-la- Ville,  Canton  of  Vaud;  Dr.  Ferdinand  Keller's  memoir 
on  Swiss  cup-stones;  cupped  boulders  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bienne  and 
Zurich;  only  one  case  of  ring-cuttings  thus  far  known  in  Switzerland ;  small 
cup-stones  found  near  lacustrine  stations  in  the  Lake  of  Neuchatel ;  Dr.  Kel- 
ler's views  regarding  these  stones,  p.  21-'22. 

Germany  and  Austria. — Cup-stones  not  yet  discovered  in  Southern  Ger- 
many, but  doubtless  will  be  found ;  cup-stone  near  Eckernforde  (Schles- 
wig) ;  Miss  J.  Mestorf's  enumeration  of  cup-stones  thus  far  noticed  in  the 
duchies  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein  ;  combination  of  cups  with  wheel-shaped 
figures  and  rings  (note);  cup-stone  with  runic  characters  on  one  side,  p.  22- 
24. — Cup-cuttings  on  megalithic  monuments  in  the  Island  of  Riigen ;  on 
rocks  in  different  parts  of  Silesia;  the  "Bischofs-Stein"  in  Brandenburg, 
Prussia;  Mr.  Friedel  on  cup-marks  on  churches  in  Germany  and  Sweden; 
cup-stone  near  Ober-Farrenstadt  in  Prussian  Saxony;  the  "Riesenstein" 
near  Meissen,  Saxony;  Dr.  M.  Much  on  cup-stones  in  Austria,  p.  24-25. 

Denmark. — Dr.  H.  Petersen's  article  on  primitive  lapidarian  sculptures 
in  Denmark,  called  Ilelleristninger  in  that  country;  cup-cuttings  found  in 
most  of  the  Danish  islands  and  in  Jutland,  on  erratic  blocks  as  well  as  on 
stones  of  megalithic  structures;  these  sculptures  referable  in  many  cases  to 
the  stone  age,  in  others  to  the  bronze  period;  cup-stones  with  later  runic 


RAui  SUMMARY.  99 

inscriptions;  ai'tificial  foot-tracks  on  stones  belonging  to  burial-structures, 
p.  25-27. — Wheel-shaped  sculptures  on  isolated  blocks  and  megalithic  mon- 
uments: they  are  thought  to  pertain  to  the  ages  of  stone  and  bronze;  some- 
times associated  with  rude  designs  of  ships;  group  seen  on  the  cap-stone  of 
a  funei-al  chamber  near  Herrestrup  in  Seeland;  ship-sculptures  probably 
referable  to  the  bronze  age;  similar  designs  on  bronze  knives  or  razors; 
absence  of  sculptures  on  rocks  in  situ  in  Denmark,  p.  27-28. 

Sweden. — Diversity  of  primitive  sculptures  in  Sweden;  the  cupped 
granite  boulder  called  the  Baal  or  Balder  Stone,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Falkoping;  a  sacrificial  altar  used  in  Baal-worship,  according  to  Prof  Sven 
Nilsson;  other  Swedish  cup-stones;  they  are  called  eJfstenar,  or  elfstones,  p. 
28-29. — Boulders  in  Scania  with  cup-excavations  and  wheel-shaped  sculp- 
tures; slab  from  a  Scanian  tumulus,  called  Willfarahog,  shows  designs  of  a 
chariot  and  of  ships,  and,  in  addition,  cups  of  earlier  date;  description 
of  the  tumulus,  which  is  ascribed  to  the  bronze  age  by  Prof.  Nilsson; 
analogy  between  the  designs  on  the  slab  from  the  Willfara  tumulus  and 
those  on  the  chamber-stones  of  the  Kivik  monument  in  Scania;  these  struc- 
tures ascribed  by  Nilsson  to  Baal- worshiping  Phoenicians ;  description  of  the 
Kivik  sculptures;  absence  of  cup-cuttings;  the  Kivik  monument  and  simi- 
lar Scanian  structures  claimed  for  Denmark  by  Dr.  Petersen ;  Scandinavian 
sculptures  on  natural  rock-surfaces;  particularly  frequent  in  the  Liin  of 
Bohus;  represent  scenes  of  war  and  hunting,  manned  and  empty  ships,  etc.; 
ascribed  by  some  to  the  bronze-age  people,  but  by  Prof  Nilsson  to  the 
Vikings  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries,  p.  29-31. 

India. — Cup-stones  found  in  India;  importance  of  their  occurrence; 
analogy  between  the  megalithic  monuments  of  India  and  those  of  Great 
Britain  pointed  out  by  Col.  M.  Taylor  and  Dr.  Wilson;  later  discoveries  in 
India  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Rivett-Carnac ;  his  writings;  he  explores  tumuli  near 
Junapani,  in  the  district  of  Nagpoor;  traditions  relating  to  them,  p.  81-32. — 
Description  of  these  tumuli;  cup-cuttings  on  blocks  surrounding  them,  but 
no  ring-sculptures;  articles  found  in  the  tumuli,  p.  32-33. — Cup-sculptures 
discovered  by  Rivett-Carnac  on  stones  and  rocks  in  situ  in  the  mountains 
of  Kumaon;  temple  of  Mahadeo  at  Chandeshwar;  cup  and  ring-cuttings  on 
a  rock  in  the  vicinity;  legends  relating  to  these  sculptures;  "Mahadeo,"  a 


100  CUP-SHAPED  AKD  OTHER  LAPIDARIAN  SCULPTURES. 

name  given  to  Siva;  his  character  in  Hindoo  mythology,  p.  33-34. — Wor- 
sliip  of  Mahadeo  and  Yoni  in  India;  their  conventional  representations  in 
general;  in  the  Chandeshwar  temple,  p.  34-35. — They  resemble  the  rock- 
sculptures  in  the  neighborhood;  description  of  the  Chandeshwar  temple; 
Mahadeo  symbols  of  different  kinds;  those  of  the  poorer  class  roughly  cut 
out  on  stone  slabs,  p.  35-36. — Temples  near  Chandeshwar  built  in  imitation 
of  Mahadeo  symbols;  customs  in  the  Punjab  relating  to  Mahadeo-worship; 
Mr.  Rivett-Carnac's  conclusion:  he  connects  the  megalithic  monuments  and 
primitive  sculptures  of  Europe  with  those  of  India,  p.  36-38. — Previous 
discovery  of  cupped  boulders  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus  (Cashmere)  by 
Dr.  Verchfere;  the  cups  considered  by  him  as  the  results  of  glacial 
action;  Prof.  Desor  refutes  this  erroneous  view;  Prof  Desor's  inferences: 
he  ascribes  European  cup  and  ring-cuttings,  megalithic  monuments,  etc., 
to  Aryan  immigrants,  their  arrival  marking  the  beginning  of  the  neolithic 
period,  p.  38-39. 

Part  II. — Primitive  Lapidarian  Sculptures  in  America. 

North  America. — Hammer-stones  (so-called)  in  the  United  States ;  in 
Europe;  their  application;  cannot  have  been  used  in  finishing  flint  imple- 
ments of  superior  workmanship  ;  methods  of  chipping  flint  among  modern 
North  American  Indians,  p.  41-42. — Pitted  stones;  many  of  them  not 
bruised  at  their  circumference,  and  consequently  not  applied  as  supposed ; 
speculations  as  to  their  use;  perhaps  employed  in  breaking  hard-shelled 
fruits,  p.  42-43. — Nuts  as  an  article  of  food  among  the  North  American  In- 
dians ;  "nut-stones"  first  described  by  Col.  Charles  C.  Jones,  p.  43-45. — 
Small  cup-stones  with  a  cavity  on  one  side  or  on  both ;  used  as  paint-mor- 
tars, p.  45-46. — Cup-stones  of  larger  size  with  a  number  of  cavities,  per- 
haps paint-mortars;  Zuiii  paint-cups  of  earthenware  ;  pestle  with  cup-shaped 
cavity  obtained  from  the  Tesuque  Indians,  p.  46-48. — A  cup-stone  from 
Ohio  described  by  Messrs.  Squier  and  Davis ;  its  transfer  to  the  Blackmore 
Museum  (England)  ;  Mr.  E.  T.  Stevens's  view  concerning  this  stone,  p.  48- 
49. — Cup-stones  frequent  in  Ohio ;  called  spindle-socket-stones  by  Col. 
Charles  Whittlesey  ;  Adair  on  the  method  of  spinning  among  the  Southern 
Indians ;    spindles  used  by   the  Navajos,    Pueblo    Indians,    etc. ;    no    an- 


KAU]  SUMMARY.  101 

cient  spindle-whorls  found  north  of  Mexico  in  the  United  States  National 
Museum;  Mexican  spindle-whorls,  p.  49-50. — Occurrence  of  large  cupped 
blocks  in  the  United  States  ;  sandstone  block  with  cup-cavities  discovered 
by  Dr.  H.  H.  Hill  in  Lawrence  County,  Ohio,  and  presented  by  him  to  the 
Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History ;  description  of  the  block ;  other 
cupped  blocks  in  Adams  County,  Ohio,  p.  50-52. — Large  cupped  granite 
boulder  discovered  by  Rev.  John  J.  McCook  at  Niantic,  New  London 
County,  Connecticut;  description  of  this  boulder,  p.  52-54. — Cupped  (?) 
block  seen  by  Captain  Dupaix  near  Orizaba,  Mexico,  and  described  by  him, 
p  54-56. — Rocks  and  boulders  with  mortar-cavities,  or  stationary  mortars, 
in  the  United  States;  noticed  by  Col.  Chai-les  C.  Jones  in  Georgia;  Hun- 
ter's statement  regarding  such  mortars  ;  large  boulder  with  mortar-cavities 
near  Nebraska  City;  described  by  Prof  Sam.  Aughey ;  rocks  with  mortar- 
cavities  seen  by  Mr.  John  R.  Bartlettin  Texas  and  Mexico,  p  56-57. — They 
are  frequent  in  California ;  two  large  ones  in  Santa  Barbara  County  described 
by  Mr.  Stephen  Bowers,  p.  57-59. — The  stones  called  inerres  a  hassins  in 
French  and  Muldensteinc  in  German  probably  stationary  mortars  in  some 
instances;  a  Swiss  example  given,  p.  59-60. — Rock-sculptures  recalling 
those  of  the  Old  World  on  Bald  Friar  Rock  in  the  Susquehanna  River, 
Maryland;  the  rock  examined  by  Mr.  F.  G.  Galbraith;  character  of  the 
sculptures ;  some  resembling  the  engraved  Mahadeos  of  Lidia,  j).  60-62. — 
A  Mahadeo-like  figure  among  other  designs  carved  on  a  block  in  the  Gila 
Valley ;  Mr.  Bartlett's  views  regarding  Indian  rock-sculptures ;  engraved 
figures  on  a  rock  in  the  San  Pete  Valley,  Utah,  noticed  by  Lieut.  J.  W. 
Gunnison ;  Mormon  translation  of  the  inscription,  p.  63-64. — Rock-painting 
among  the  Klamath  Indians  in  Oregon;  a  painted  rock  described  by  Dr. 
James  S.  Denison;  character  of  the  figures;  Dr  Denison's  comments  on 
the  subject,  p.  65-66. 

Central  America. — Dr.  Berthold  Seemann  examines  in  Chiriqui,  United 
States  of  Colombia,  rock-sculptures,  which  he  considers  analogous  to  those 
of  Northumberland,  Scotland,  and  other  parts  of  Great  Britain ;  the  piedra 
pintal  near  the  town  of  David  described  by  him;  his  conclusions  based  upon 
the  similarity  of  the  Chiriqui  and  European  sculptures,  p.  66-69. 


102  CUP-SHArED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAKIAN  SCULPTUKES. 

Part  III. — Yiews  concerning  the  Significance  of  Cup-shaped  and  other  Frimitive 

Scidptures. 

TliG  Balder  Stone,  near  Falkoping,  Sweden ;  first  described  by  Prof. 
Nilsson,  who  considers  it  as  a  sacrificial  altar  used  in  the  worship  of 
Baal ;  the  Willfara  slab  similarly  employed,  according  to  his  opinion ; 
he  ascribes  the  introduction  of  bronze  in  the  North  of  Europe  to  Baal- 
worshiping  Phoenicians,  who  had  established  settlements  in  those  parts  for 
the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  natives;  the  sculptured  concentric  circles 
regarded  by  him  as  emblematic  of  sun  (or  Baal)  -worship;  their  similarity  to 
ornaments  seen  on  weapons  and  other  objects  of  the  bronze  age  and  eai'ly 
iron  age ;  Sir  John  Lubbock's  review  of  Professor  Nilsson's  Phoenician 
theory,  p.  71-74. — Prof.  Nilsson's  visit  to  Ireland;  he  believes  in  a 
Phoenician  origin  of  the  cairns  of  Dowth  and  New  Grange ;  the  lighting 
of  the  Midsummer's-night  fire  in  Ireland  regarded  by  him  as  a  survival 
of  former  Baal-worship ;  the  structures  of  Avebury  and  Stonehenge 
in  England  supposed  to  be  Phoenician  temples  dedicated  to  the  sun- 
god  ;  discussion  of  Nilsson's  theory  by  Prof.  Simpson,  who  is  inclined 
to  ascribe  a  Cimbrian  origin  to  the  Kivik  sculptui-es ;  Prof  Nilsson's 
views  not  generally  accepted ;  value  of  his  work  on  the  bronze  age ;  its 
translation  by  Miss  Mestorf,  p.  74-75. — Use  of  cupped  boulders  as  altars 
doubtful ;  other  views  concerning  stones  with  cup  and  ring-sculptures ; 
regarded  as  archaic  maps;  as  contrivances  for  reckoning  time;  as  gambling 
tables;  the  sculptures  supposed  to  represent  the  heavenly  bodies;  enumera- 
tions of  tribes ;  some  kind  of  archaic  writing ;  served  in  druidical  rites ; 
indicative  of  Roman  Mithras-worship ;  all  these  theories  rejected  by  Prof. 
Simpson,  p.  76-77.— The  markings  have  no  bearing  on  the  worship  of 
the  reciprocal  principles  of  nature,  according  to  Prof.  Simpson ;  this 
view  refuted  by  Mi-.  Rivett-Carnac,  p.  77-78. — Cup  and  ring-cuttings 
considered  by  Prof.  Simpson  as  expressive  of  some  religiovis  conception ; 
the  more  complicated  figures  on  megalithic  monuments  in  Brittany  and 
Ireland  he  thinks  to  be  of  an  ornamental  character;  he  refers  the  beginning 
of  the  practice  of  cup-cutting  to  the  stone  age,  but  believes  in  its  contin- 
uance in  later  times,  p.  78-79. — Prof.  Simpson's  observations  on  the  pre- 
historic races  of  the  British  Islands;  he  thinks  the  question  to  which  of 


KAU.i  SUMMARY.  103 

these  races  the  first  sculpturings  of  cups  and  rings  are  to  be  referred  cannot 
be  positively  answered  in  the  present  state  of  archaeological  knowledge,  p. 
79-81. — Mr.  Tate  ascribes  the  Northumbrian  sculptures  to  Celts  who  used 
metal,  probably  bronze,  in  executing  them ;  he  offers  no  definite  A-iew  with 
regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  sculptures,  but  inclines  to  the  belief  that  they 
originated  with  the  Druids,  and  were  connected  in  different  ways  with  their 
rites,  p  81-82. — He  attempts  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  cup  and  ring- 
excavations,  but  finally  admits  the  difficulty  of  arriving  at  a  definite  result ; 
he  expects  success  from  investigations  among  the  Laps  and  in  the  early 
home  of  the  Aryan  family,  p.  83-84. — Prof.  Desor's  views;  the  cups  on 
erratic  blocks,  he  believes,  were  chiefly  made  for  recalling  circumstances 
or  events,  the  explanation  of  their  purport  being  left  to  oral  tradition ; 
monumental  character  of  the  cupped  stones,  p.  84-8.'i. — Nilsson  on  the  use 
of  cupped  aspersoria  in  Swedish  churches  formerly  devoted  to  Catholic 
worship ;  it  is  doubtful  whether  these  church  vessels  were  designed  to 
peri^etuate  the  recollection  of  sacrificial  altars,  p.  85-86. — Miss  Mestorf  on 
Swedish  popular  superstitions  in  relation  to  cupped  stones,  p.  86. — The 
cup-stone  question  discussed  by  German  anthropologists ;  cup-excavations 
and  fuiTows  on  the  walls  of  churches;  first  noticed  by  Dr.  E.  Veckenstedt 
in  the  Province  of  Brandenburg,  Prussia;  discovered  by  Mr.  E.  Friedel  in 
various  cities  and  towns  in  Brandenburg,  Pomerania,  and  Sweden ;  Mr. 
Woldt  observes  them  in  Berlin;  Dr.  Veckenstedt  in  Goslar  and  Bruns- 
wick; Dr.  Voss  in  Baireuth ;  Mr.  W.  Schwartz  in  Posen ;  Prof  Virchow  in 
Switzerland  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhine ;  different  theories  as  to  the 
origin  of  cup-marks  on  churches ;  the  cups  are  supposed  to  possess  healing 
qualities  ;  they  have  been  found  anointed  with  grease  ;  German  traditions 
connected  with  cups  and  furrows  on  churches,  p.  86-90. — Mr.  Rivett- 
Carnac's  discoveries;  striking  resemblance  between  the  cup  and  ring- 
cuttings  in  India  and  Great  Britain ;  more  evidences  needed  for  arriv- 
ing at  a  definite  result ;  plausibility  of  Prof.  Desor's  Aryan  theory ;  diffi- 
culties still  to  be  overcome,  p.  90-91. — Modern  builders  of  megalithic 
monuments  in  India  not  Aryan ;  Miss  A.  W.  Buckland's  observations,  p. 
91. — The  close  connection  between  cups  and  rings  has  not  been  sufficiently 
considered ;  both  appear  to  belong  to  one  system  of  primitive  sculpture,  of 


104  CUP-SHAPED  AND  OTHER  LAPIDAEIAN  SCULPTUEES. 

which  the  former  are  the  earlier  expression ;  the  number  of  cup-stones  dis- 
covered in  America  yet  too  small  to  permit  generalization ;  man  a  foreign 
element  in  America ;  probably  arrived  at  a  very  remote  period,  when  the 
distribution  of  land  and  sea  was  different  from  what  it  is  now ;  later  immi- 
gration from  Asia;  conclusion,  p.  91-93. 

Supplementary  Note. — Incised    granite   boulder   in   Forsyth   County, 
Georgia,  described  by  Col.  Charles  C.  Jones,  p.  95. 


IISTDEX. 


Aberg,  Br.  Lennart,  "HallristaiiDgar  utxBohnslan", 

cited  31 

Adair,  describes  mode  of  weaving  among  the  South- 
em  Indians 49 

mentions  wooden  mortars 56 

"The  Historyof  the  American  Indians",  cited.  50, 56 

Age  of  Danish  scnlptures 27, 28 

Albersdorf,  Holatein,  cupped  stone  near 23 

Altar  theory  in  reference  to  cupped  stones 71, 75 

objection  to 84 

Altenkirchen,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Altona,  Holstein,  cup-stone  from 23 

America,  peopling  of 92 

primitive  lapidarian  sculptures  in 41 

American  cup-stones,  first  notice  of 48 

Analogy  between  megalithic  monuments  of  India 

and  Europe 31,37,38,39 

Ancient  fortification   at   Laws,    Scotland,    cupped 

stone  from 14 

"Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  ", 

by  Squier  and  Davis,  cited 48, 49 

Ancient  towns  and  camps,  sculptures  in  and  near. . .  10, 15 

Angermiindo,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Anklam,  Pi-ussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Anointment  of  stones 89 

Antiquity  of  cup  and  ring-carvings 78 

Archaic  habitations,  sculptures  on  stones  connected 

with 10 

sepulture,  sculptures  on  stones  connected 

with 9 

"Archiv  fiir  Anthropologic  ",  cited  28 

Argyleshire,  Scotland,  sculptures  in 17 

Arizona,  rock-sculptures  in,  noticed  by  Mr.  Bartlett-  63 

Arrild,  Schleswig,  cup-stone  from  tumulus  near 23 

Artificial  foot-tracks  on  stones  in  Denmark 26 

Aryan  theory 90 

Asia,  primitive  lapidarian  sculptures  in 9 

Auchnabreach,   Argyleshire,    Scotland,   sculptured 

rock-surfaces  at 12 

Aughey,  Prof.  Samuel,  describes  mortar-cavities 57 

"Sketches   of  the    Physical 
Geography  and    Geology 

of  Nebraska ' ',  cited 57 

Austria,  cup-sculptures  in 22,  25 

Avebury,  England,  stone  structure  at 74 

Avenues,  megalithic,  sculptures  on  stones  of 9 


B.  '""'=•• 

Baal  or  Balder  Stone  near  Falkoping,  Sweden 14, 28 

Baal-worship,  concentric  rings  emblematic  of 71 

in  Sweden,  supposed 30, 71, 72 

Baireuth,  Bavaria,  cnp-marks  on  a  church  in 87 

Bald  Friar  Rock,  Maryland GQetseq 

Balder  Stone  near  Ealkoping,  Sweden 14, 28 

supposed  purpose  of 71 

Ballymenach,  Scotland,  sculptured  menhir  at 12 

Balstein  ceremony  in  Ireland 74 

Balvraid,  Scotland,  cups  on  isolated  stone  near 14 

Bancroft,  Mr.  H.  H.,  "Native  Races",  dted 02 

Barrows,  sculptured  stones  near 15 

Bartlett,   Hon.   John    R.,   notices   sculptured   and 

painted  rocks 57,  63 

"Personal  Narrative  of 
Explorations,    etc. ", 

cited 57, 64 

Bekmann ,  J.  C . ,  mentions  cup-stones  in  Brandenburg .  24 

Belley,  France,  cup-stones  near 19 

Berlin,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  churches  in 87 

Berliner  Anthropologische  Gesellschaft,  "Verhand- 

lungen  ",  cited 24,  87,  88, 89 

Berne,  Switzerland,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Bertrand,  M.  Alexandre,  experiment  in  carving  in 

stone 82 

Bhavani,  a  Hindoo  deity 34 

Biennc,  Switzerland,  cup-stones  near 21 

Bischofs-Steiu,  Prussia,  sculptures  on 24,89 

Blackmore  Museum,  American  cup-stone  in 48 

Bohemia,  cup-stones  in 25 

Bornholm,  Denmark,  cup-cuttings  in 26 

wheel  -  shaped    sculptures    o  n 

block  in 27 

Borroby,  Denmark,  cupped  stone  in  a  tumulus  at 20 

Boulders,  hollowed  out  for  mortars OGetaeq. 

Bowers,  Mr.  Stephen,  account  of  rocks  with  mortar- 
cavities  57 

Brazil,  concentric  circles  noticed  on  rocks  in 02 

British  Islands,  primitive  races  of 80,  81 

Brittany,  cup-cuttings  on   a  rooling-stono  in  Mont 

Saint-Michel,  at  Carnac 13 

sculptures  on  dolmen-stones  in 18, 19 

Bronze,  introduction  of  in  Northern  Europe 71 

knives,  Danish 27 

-age  implements  found  with  cup-stones  in 

Switzerland 22 

105 


106 


INDEX. 


Bronze-age  ornamentation  considered  by  Prof.  HUs- 

son '2 

Brunswick,  cupmarka  on  a  churcli  in 87 

Buch,  Leopold  von,  opinion  concernins  Midsummer's 

night  fire '- 

Buckland,  Miss  A.  W.,  "  Notes  on  some  Cornish  and 

Irish  Prehistoric  Monuments  ",  cited 91 

Bunsoh,  Holstein,  cup-stone  from 24 

C. 
Caernarvonshire,  Wales,  cup-cuttings  on  cap-stone 

of  dolmen  in 12, 13 

Cailhaou  des  Pourics 19 

Cairn  at  Lough  Crew,  Ireland 17 

Cairns  of  New  Grange  and  Dowth,  Ireland 18 

Caiy  Stone 14 

Caldei-a,  Panama,  sculptured  stone  near 68 

California,  rocks  with  mortar-cavities  in 57 

Camps,  ancient,  sculptures  in  and  near 10, 15 

Canton  of  Valais,  Switzerland,  stationary  mortar  in.  59 

Vand,  Switzerland,  cup-stone  in 21 

St.  Gall,  Switzerland,  cup  and  ruig-car\- 


Cap-stone  of  dolmen  near  Clynnog  Fawr,  Wales, 

cup-cuttings  on 12, 1 3 

Katbo,    Scotland,    cup- 
cuttings  on 12 

Camac, Brittany,  cups  on  roofing-stone  of  Mont  Saint- 
Michel 13.19 

Carving  in  stone,  experiments 83 

Carvings  figured  by  Simpson   11,12, 13,14, 17 

forms  of '10,15 

in  Austria 25 

Central  America 66  c(  seq. 

Denmark 25,26,27,28 

England 13,14,15,16,17,81,82 

.France 13,18,19,20,82 

Germany 22,23,24,80,87,88,89 

India SI  et  seq. 

Ireland 17,18,74 

North  America 41  etseq. 

Scotland 11  etseq. 

Sweden 28,29,30 

Switzerland 21,22 

on  Bald  Friar  Rock,  Maryland 01 

Casteuada,  drawing  of  Mexican  cupped  (?)  stone 54 

Central  America,  rock-sculptures  in 66  e(  seq. 

Chambered  tumuli,  sculptures  on  stones  of 9, 26 

Chandeshwar,  temple  of,  description  of 33,  35, 36 

Chariots,  sculptured 29,30 

Chiriqui,  Panama,  rock-sculptures  in  66  e*  seq. 

Chirac,  Franco,  cup-cuttings  near 20 

Christian  cliurches,  cupped  aspersoria  in 85 

Christianstad,  sculptures  in 30, 72 

Cimbrian  origin  of  Kivik  sculptures,  supposed 75 

Cincinnati  cup-stono 51,93 

Circles,  archaic  sculptures  of 9 

megalithic,  sculptures  on  stones  of 9 

Cist  at  Oatlands,Isle  of  Man,  carvings  on  block  of 

circle  surrounding 13 

Cists,  sculptures  on  9,15,23 

Classification  of  primitive  sculptures 10 

Clava,  Scotland,  cupped  stones  in  tumuli  at 13 

Clonghton  Moor,  England,  cupped  stone  from  cham- 
ber within  stone  circle  on 13 


Page. 
Clynnog  Fawr,  Wales,  cup-cuttings  on  cap-stone  of 

dolmen  near —  12, 13 

Comparison   of   lapidarian    sculptures  of   Central 

America  and  the  British  Islands  -  -  68, 69 
Concentric  circles,  sculptured  and  painted,  frequent 

in  the  West  of  the  United  States 62 

circular  lines  of  the  foi-m  of  a  spiral  or 

volute 11 

rings,  thought  to  be  emblematic  of  sxm- 

worsbip 71 

without  a  central  cup 11 

Connecticut,  cupped  granite  boulder  in 52, 53, 54 

Conventional  symbols 77 

Copenhagen,  Museum,  cup-stones  in 23 

Corcelettes,  Switzerland,  cup-stones  found  at 22 

"  Correspondenz-Blatt  der  Deutschen  Anthropologi- 

schenGesellschaft",  cited 23,37,86,89 

Cortaillod,  Switzerland,  cupped  stones  from  lake- 
dwelling  at 22 

Cottbus,  Prussia,  cup-mark.s  on  church  in 87 

Covers  of  urns,  sciUptures  on 9 

Cup. carvings,  antiquity  of 78 

Cup.cuttings  frequent  in  Switzerland 21 

Cup.excavations,  tra<litions  concerning 89 

Cup-marks  on  churches 24,87 

Cup-stono  from  cemetery  of  early  age  of  iron 23 

Cup-sculptures.     {See  Carvings.) 

Cup-sliapcd  sculptures 7 

Cup-stone  question  in  the  German  Anthropological 

Society 86 

Cup-stones 7 

attributed  to  the  bronze  ago 26 

stone  age 20 

found    in    English    barrows   containing 

burned  human  remains 17 

from  localities  in  the  United  States 46, 47 

Cupped  blocks  (or  boulders)  in  Ohio 51,52 

blocks  in  the  United  States 50,51 

stones  in  Scanian  churches 85 

supposed  purposes  of 71, 75,  et  seq. 

Cups,  surrounded  by  a  scries  of  concentric  but  in- 
complete rings,  having  a  straight 

radial  groove 10 

by  a   series   of  concentric   com- 
plete rings 10 

by   concentric    rings   and   ilexed 

lines  11 

by  a  single  ring - 10 

Cuyahoga  Valley,  Ohio,  cup-stones  from 49 

D. 

Danish  bronze  knives 27 

De  Bonstetten,  M.,  views  regarding  cnp-cuttlnga 84 

De  Mahifosse,  M.,    "Lcs  Piorres  b,  Bassins  et  Ics 

Kochers  il  ficuelles  dans  la  Loz6rc  ",  cited 20 

Denmark,  archaic  sculptures  in 25, 26, 27, 28 

artificial  foot  tracks  on  stones  in 26 

Denison,  Dr.  James  S. ,  communication  by 65 

Desor,  Prof.  E.,  Aryan  theory 90 

connection  between  the  cup-sculp- 
tures of  India  and  Europe 38, 39 

"  Lcs  Pierres  :\  Ecuelles",  cited... 7,  8, 13, 19 
38,  39,  85 
meaning  of  primitive  rock-sculp- 
tures   84 


INDEX. 


107 


Page. 
BeHor,  Prof.  E.,  on   certain    customs    of    Hindoo 

women 37 

on  cup-stones  in  India 31 

on  supposed  glacial  action 38 

Deutsche  Anthropologiache  Gesellschaft,  "Corres- 

pondenz-Blatt ",  cited 23, 37, 86, 89 

DoTiations  from  the  principal  types  of  cup-shaped 

sculptures 11 

Dickson,  Mr.,  opinion  concerning  incised  stones 76 

Diversity  of  sculptures  on  the  same  stono 11, 18 

Dolmen  at  Lancresse,  in  the  Island  of  Guernsey, 

cups  on  prop-stone  of 12 

near  Ratho,  Scotland,  cupped  cap-stono  of. .  12 
near  Clynnog  Fawr, "Wales,  cup-cuttings  on 

cap-stone  of 12, 13 

Dolmens,  sculptures  on 9 

Dolmen-stones  of  Brittany,  sculptures  on 18, 19 

Dowth,  Ireland,  sculptures  in  caii-n  at 18,74 

Druidical  origin  of  primitive  sculptures,  supposed. .  76, 82 

Dunbar,  Scotland,  cup-cuttings  on  monolith  near  ...  13 
Dupaix,  Capt  "William,  describes  a  cupped  (?)  atone 

near  Orizaba,  Mexico 54 

"The  Monuments  of  New 

Spain  ",  cited 55, 56 

E. 

Earthenware  paint-cups,  New  Mexican 47 

Eckernfordo,  Schleswig,  cup-stone  discovered  near.  22 
Edinburgh,  Scotland,  cup-cuttings  on  standing  stone 

near 14 

Eggenburg,  Austria,  cup-stones  in  neighborhood  of.  25 

Elfstenar,  or  Elfstones 29, 86 

England,  archaic  sculptures  in Id  etseq.,  SI,  82 

Cloughton  Moor,  cupped  stone  fiom  cham- 
ber within  atone  circle  on 13 

English  rock-sculpture 15 

Eatavaycr,  Switzerland,  cupped  stones  found  near. .  22 

Ethnic  significance  of  cup-shaped  sculptures 7 

Europe,  primitive  lapidarian  sculptures  in 9 

Evans,  Mr.  John,  "The  Ancient  Stone  Implements, 

"Weapons,  and  Ornaments  of  Great  Britain",  cited.  42,81 

Experiments  in  carving  in  stone 82 

F. 

Ealkoping,  Sweden,  Baal  or  Balder  Stone  near 14, 28 

Ealsau,  M.  A.,  "Dela  Pr6sencedequelque8PioiTe8^ 
^cuolles  dans  la  K6gion  Moyenne 

du  Bassin  du  Rhone ' ',  cited 20 

describes  cnp-atonea 19, 20 

on  stone  in  church  at  "Voanas,  France.  88 
Fergusson,  Mr.  James,  on  ago  of  a  Danish  stone 

chamber 28 

"Kude     Stone     Mouumcnts 

in  all  Countries ' '.  cited . .  18, 28,  31 

Font,  Switzerland,  cupped  stones  found  at 22 

Foot-tracks,  artificial,  on  stones  in  Denmark 26 

Force,  Judge  M.  F.,*communication  by 51 

Forest,  Village  of  the,  Guernsey,  cups  on  standing 

stone  at 13 

Forfarshire,  Scotland,  cupped  stone  from  ruin  of  an- 
cient fortification  in 14 

Forms  exhibited  in  carvings 10, 15 

Fortified  buildings,  sculptures  on  stones  of 10 

France,  primitive  sculptures  in 13, 18, 19, 20, 82 

Friedel,  Mr.  E.,  discovers  cup-marks  on  churches  ..  24, 87 

7  L   S 


Page. 

FUnen,  Denmark,  cup-cuttings  found  in 20 

Funeral  chamber  at  Herrestruii,  Denmark,  sculpture 

on  cap-stono  of 27 

Fiirstenwalde,  Prussia,  cup-marks  ou  church  in 87 

G. 
Galbraith,  Mr.  F.  G.,  instructed  to  examine  Bald 

Friar  Kock 60 

Gatschet,  Mr.  A.  S.,  assistance  rendered  by 05 

Georgia,  stationary  mortars  in 56 

nut-stones  from 44 

German  Anthropological  Society.    iSee  Deutsche  An- 
thropologische  Gesellschaft. 

Germany,  primitive  sculptures  in 22,23,24,86,87,88,89 

Gernerd,  Mr.  J.  M.  M.,  pitted  stones  collected  by 43 

Gila  Hiver  Valley,  Arizona,  rock-sculptures  in 63 

Goteborg,  Sweden,  cup- stono  found  near 29 

Goslar,  Hanover,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Graves,  Dr.,  opinion  concerning  cup  and  ring-sculp- 

tiues ff 75 

Greenwell  and  KoUeston,  Messrs.,     "British    Bar- 
rows ",  cited 17 

Greenwell,  Eev.  "William,  account  of  barrow  in  K\\- 

burn  Parish,  Yorkshire.  16 
description  of  cup-atones 

found  therein IG 

opinion  in  regard  to  cup- 
ped stones 75 

Greifswald,  Prussia,  cup-marks  ou  church  in 87, 88 

Gristow,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Groveport,  Ohio,  cupped  stono  from 45 

Gunnison,  Lieut.  J.  W.,  "The  Mormons,  orLatter- 

Day  Saints  ",  cited 04 

Giitzkow,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

H. 
Habitations,  archaic,  sculptures  on  atones  connected 

with 10 

Hag's  Chair 18 

Hammer-stones 41, 42 

their  use 42,43 

Hiillriatningar 30,31 

Hanover,  cup-marks  on  churches  in 87 

Hartt,  Prof.,  C.  F.,  notices  concentric  cin  les  on  rocka 

in  South  America 62 

Haushagen,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Hays,  Mr.  "W.  "W.,  sends  photograph  of  Californian 

rock-painting    G2 

Helleristninger 25 

Herrestrup,  Denmark,  ships  ;ind  wheels  sculptured 

on  cap-stono  of  funeral  chamber  at 27 

Hill,  Dr.  H.  H.,  discovers  large  cupped  blocks  in 

Ohio 51,52 

view  concerning  their  purpose 52 

Holden,  Mr.,  on  Midsummer's-night  fire  in  Ireland. .  74 
Holmberg,  Mr.  A.  E.,    "Scandinaviens   Hallristniu- 

gar",  mentioned  .  30 

Holatein,  cup-atones  found  in 20 

Holy-water  basins  in  Scanian  churches 85 

Horses,  sculptured 29,30 

Human  i^gures,  sculptured 27, 30 

Humboldt,  A  von,  "  Vues  dea  Cordilltirea",  cited 92 

Hunter,  "Manners  and  Customs  of  Several  Indian 
Tribes  located  west  of  tho  Mississippi", 

cited 56 

mentiona  wooden  mortars 56 


108 


ENDEX. 


I. 

Illinois,  cup-atono  from 47 

Implemcnta  of  bronze  age  found  with  Swiss  ci  p- 

stones 22 

Incised  atones  in  Veragnas,  Central  America 67 

India,  cup-scnlptures  in 31  et  seq. 

cupped  boulders  in 38 

Indian  legend  concerning  rock-paintings  iu  Oregon. .  65 
Inferences  drawn  from  the  distribution  of  cup  and 

ring-carvings 81 

Introduction  of  bronze  in  the  North  of  Eui-ope 71 

cup  and  ring-carvings  in  Britain 79 

Invera ess-shire,  Scotland,  cup-cuttings  in 13, 14 

Ireland,  archaic  sculptures  in 9, 17, 18, 74 

Balatein  ceremony  iu 74 

Phoenician  traces  in,  according  to  Nilason..  74 

Ironton,  Ohio,  cupped  block  from  nei-jhborhood  of  . .  51 

Island  of  Gavr'  Inis,  France,  sculpture  in  tumulus  in.  18 
Guernsey,  cup-cuttiuga  on  prop-stone  of  dol- 

^       men  in  12 

standing  stone  in.  13 
Riigen,  cup-cutiings  on  megalithic  monu- 
ments iu 24 

cup-marks  on  churches  in 87 

Usedom,  cup-marks  on  churches  in 87 

Islands  of  Denmark,  uup-cuttiuga  found  in 26 

lale  of  Man,  cup-cuttings  on  block  of  circle  surround- 
ing stone  cist  at  Oatlands,  iu 13 

cupped  rock  at  Kirk  Braddan,  in 14 

Isolated  rocks  and  stones,  sculptures  on  surfaces  of. .  10 

stone  near  Balvraid,  Scotland,  cupson 14 

J. 

Jesscn,  Mr.C.,  describes  cup-stone  near  Eckemforde.  22 

Jews  annointed  stones 89 

Jones,  Col.  Charles  C,  ou  nut-stones 44,45 

on  stationary  mortars 56 

"Antiquities  of  the  South- 
em  Indians",  cited 44,45,56 

Junapani  mounds,  India 31  ci  seq. 

Jutland,  Denmark,  cup-cuttings  found  in 26 

runic  stone  with  cupped  backside  in 26 


Keller,  Dr.   Ferdinand,    "The  Lake  Dwellings  of 

Switzerland,  etc.",  died.  21,22 
view    concerning  cup-cut- 
tings    84 

Kerry  County,  Ireland,  sculptures  in 17 

Kiel,  Museum  at,  cup-stones  in 23 

Kilburn  Parish,  Yorkshire,  barrow  in 10 

Kilmichael-Glassary    Parish,    Scotland,   sculptured 

menhir  in 12 

Kirk  Braddan,  Islo  of  M  an,  cupped  rock  at 14 

Kistvaen  at  Oatlands,  Isle  of  Man,  cup-cuttings  on 

block  of  circle  surrounding 13 

Kivik  sculptures 30,72,74,75 

Klamath  Indians,  rock-paintinga  of 65 

K'miikamtsh.  the  Creator 65 

Knives  of  bronze  27 

KtA-i  TupAkshi,  Standing  Rock *. 65 

Kumaon  Mountains,  India,  ccp-scnlptures :.  33 

L. 

Laaland,  Denmark,  artificial  foot-tracks  on  block  in.  26 

cup-cuttinga  in 26 


Page. 

LaBoulodo  Gargantua 20 

Lake  of  Neuchatel,  Switzerland,  cup-atones  from —  22 

Liin  of  Eohus,  Sweden,  rock-sculptures  in 30 

Halland,  Sweden,  cup-stone  from 28 

Mariestad,  Sweden,  Baal  or  Balder  Stone  in. .  14, 28 

Lancresae,  dolmen  at,  cup-cuttinga  on  prop-atone  of.  12 

Langeland,  Denmark,  cup-cuttings  in 20 

Lapidarian  sculptures,  comparison  of 60 

primitive,  in  Europe  and  Asia.  9 

in  America 41 

Lassan,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Laws,  Scotland,  cupped  stone  from  ruin  of  ancient 

fortification  at 14 

Lee,  Mr.  J.  E.,  translation  of  Dr.  Keller's  reports  on 

lake  dwellings ~ 21 

Legends  concerning  cup-oscavations  on  churches  in 

Germany 89 

Lenoir,  M.  Alexandre,   "Antiquit^a   Mesicaiues", 

representation  of  cupped  (?)  stone  in 54 

Linga,  symbol 34 

Lingam- worship 77 

Locmariaker,    France,    sculpture    on    dolmen-stone 

near 18 

Lord  Kingaborough's  "Mexican  Antiquities",  repre- 
sentation of  cupped  (?)  stone  in 54, 55 

Loudon,  Tennessee,  nut-stone  from  neighborhood  of.  45 

Lough  Crew,  Ireland,  sculptures  on  stones  of  caim  at  17 

Loz6re  Department,  Franco,  cup-cuttings  in 20 

Lnbbock,  Sir  John,  comments   on   Prof.  Nilsson's 

Phoenician  theory 71  et  seq. 

"Prehistoric  Times  ",  cited 74 

Luchon,   Pyrenees,    cup-sculptures    on    megalithic 

monuments  near 19 

Lukis,  Kev.  W.  C,  cup-cuttings  found  in  Brittany  by.  19 

Luterholz,  Switzerland,  cup-atono  in  the 21 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  "Antiquity  of  Man  ",  cited 43 

M. 

Mahadeo,  a  Hindoo  deity 34 

represented  by  carvings 34, 62 

symbol  of 34, 62, 78 

temples,  shape  of 78 

-like  shapes  exhibited  in  rock-paintings ...  65 

Malacatl,  spindle-whorl  (Mexican  name) 50 

Malmo,  Sweden,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Maltese  cross,  sculptured  on  rock  near  Niemegk, 

Prussia 24 

Manchester,  Ohio,  cupped  boulders  near 52 

Manti,  Utah,  carved  group  on  cliff  at. 64 

Map  theory  in  reference  to  cup  and  ring-sculptures.  75 

Marble  cup-stone  in  Museum  at  Kiel 23 

Marj  land,  Bald  Friar  Kock - .  60 

"Materiaux  pour  I'llistoire  Primitive  et  Katurelle 

dcl'Hommo",  cited 7,  ]  9,  20, 28, 38, 56,  59, 88 

McCook,  Rev.  John  J.,  describes   cupped    granite 

boulder  at  Niantic,  Connccticat 52,  53, 54 

Megalithic  avenues,  sculptures  on  stonea  of 9 

circles,  sculptures  on  stones  of 9 

monuments,  cup-cuttings  on  ■ 24 

Meissen,  Saxony,  cupped  rock  near 24 

Mellcnthin,  Island  of  Usedom,  cup-marks  on  church 


Mela,  village  of,  Switzerland,  cup  and  ring-carvings 


87 


"M^moiresdo  la  Soci6t6  Roy  ale  des  Antiquaires  du 
Nord",  cited 23,25,28 


INDEX. 


109 


Pago. 

Menhir,  sculptured,  at  Ballymeuach,  Scotland 12 

Merchant's  Table,  Brittany,  carving  on  18 

Meatorf,  Mias  J.,  custodian  of  the  Archseological 

Museum  at  Kiel 23 

enumeration    of    cup-stones    in 

Schleswigand  Holstein 23,24 

illustration  from  article  by 88 

translations  by 23, 75 

"Ueber  Schalcnsteine",  cited...  23 

Mexican  method  of  spinning,  illtistrated 50 

Mexico,  cupped  (l)  stone  in 54 

Mickelborough,    Prof.    J.,    description    of    cupped 

block  at  Cincinnati 51, 52 

Midsummer's-night  fire 73,74 

Migration  of  man  infeiTed  from  occurrence  of  cup- 
atones  17 

Mithras-worship 76 

"Mittheilungcn  dcr  Antiquariscben  Gesellschaft  in 

Ziiiich  ",  cited 21 

Moncrietr,  Scotland,   cup-cuttings  on  stone  within 

stone  cii'clo  at 13 

Monolith  near  Dunbar,  Scotland,  carvings  on 13 

Monoliths,  sculptures  on 9 

Mont-la- Ville,  Switzeiland,  cup-stone  near 21 

Moor,  "The  Hindu  Pantheon",  cited 34 

Moravia,  cup-stonea  in 25 

Morgenitz,  Island  of  Usedom,  cup-marks  on  church 

in 87 

Morlot,  M.  A.,  describes  stationary  mortar  (?)  in  Can- 
ton of  Valais,  Switzerhind 59 

"Pierres  ti  Ecuelles",  cited... 59 

Mormon  translation  of  sculpture  in  Utah 64 

Mortar  and  pestle  for  preparation  of  paint 47 

Mortars  m  the  shape  of  boulders  with  cup-shaped 

cavities ^^ 

Mounds  in  the  Nagpoor  district,  India 31, 32 

'  Mont  Saint-Michel,    at   Caniac,    Brittany,  cup-cut- 
tings on  rooiing-stone  of 13, 19 

Much,  Dr.  M.,  on  cup-stones  in  Austria 25 

Muldensteine ^® 

Museum  at  Copenhagen,  cup-stones  in 23 

Kiel,  cup-stones  in 23 

St.  Germain,  casts  of  sculptures  in 82 

N. 

Nagpoor.  India,  mounds  in 31, 32 

Napa  Valley,  Calilbi-nia,  rocks  with  mortar-cavities 

iji 58 

Nap  fchen  stein  e 24 

"Narrative  of  the  Voyage  of  H.M.  S.  Herald",  cited.  66 
National  Museum,  U,  S.,  pitted  and  cupped  stones 

in 42  etseq. 

Nanney,  France,  superstitions  of  peuple 89 

Neolithic  flint  objects,  how  produced 42 

Neuenkirchen,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

New  Grange,  Ireland,  canings in  cairn  of .  18, 74 

New  Mexico,  paint-cups  from 47 

Niantic,  Connecticut,  cupped  granite  boulder  at 52,  53,  54 

Niemegk,  Prussia,  sculptures  on  rock  near 24 

Nilsson,  Prof.  Sven,  altar  theory 84 

arguments  commented  on  by 

Sir  John  Lubbock 71 

describesBaalorBalderStone.  28,71 
' '  Die  Ureinwohner  dea  Scandi- 
navischen    Nordens ;      das 

Bronzealter  ",  cit^d 28, 29, 30, 85 


Pago. 
Nijsson,  Prof.  Sven,  interpretation  of  Kivik  sculp- 
tures    30 

on  bronze-age   ornamentation-  72 

cupped  boulders  in  Sweden.  71 

hammer-stones 41 

Phoenician  theory 13  et  acq. 

"  The  Primitive  Inhabitants  of 

S<^andinavia  ",  cited 41 

North  America,  primitive  lapidarian  sculptures  in.  .41  et  seq^ 

American  cup-stones 47 

hammer-stones 42 

nut-stones 44 

pitted  stones 42 

rock-sculptures 60  e(  seq. 

Northumberland,  rock-sculptures  in 15, 17, 81,  82 

Norway,  supposed  Phoenician  traces  in 78 

Nut-stones 44 

Nuts,  an  article  of  food  of  the  North  American  In- 
dians    43 

O. 

Oatlands,  Isle  of  Man,  cup-cuttings  on  block  of  circle 

surrounding  stone  cist  at 13 

Obelisk,  emblematic  of  the  sun-god 72 

Ober-Farrensiadt,  Prussia,  cupped  rock  near 24,85 

Objections  to  Professor  Nilsson's  theory  concerning 

Phceuician  traces  in  the  North  of  Europe 73, 75 

Occurrence  of  cup-stones  in  both  hemispheres 8 

Oennarp,  Scania,  holy- water  baain  in  church  at 85 

Ogham  characters 68 

Ohio,  cup-stones  from 46, 47, 48, 49 

Ironton,  cupped  block  from 51 

Ojibways,  use  concentric  circles  as  symbols 62 

Oldcastle,  Ireland,  cairn  near 17 

Oregon,  painted  rocks  in 65 

Orizaba,  Mexico,  cupped  (?)  stone  near 54 

Ornamentation  of  the  bronze  ago 72 

Ornaments  from  Junapani  mounds,  India 32 

P. 

Pracriti,  a  Hindoo  deity 34 

Paint-cups  of  earthenware '--  47 

Painted  and  carved  rock  in  the  Sierra  "Waco,  Texas.  57 

Painting  on  rocks  practised  by  Klamath  Indians  —  65 

Panama,  rock-sculptures  in 6G 

Paul,  Mr.  Kobert,  experiments  in  stone-carving 82 

Pebbles  with  cup-shaped  cavities 45, 46 

Pennsylvania,  cup-stones  from 47 

Peopling  of  America 02 

Perth,  Scotland,  stone  circle  near 13  . 

Pestle  and  mortar  for  preparation  of  paint 47 

Petersen,  Dr.  Henry,  antiquity   of    Danish    sculp- 
tures    20,27 

"Notice     sur     les      Pierres 
Sculpt^cs  du  Danemark", 

cited 25,28 

Phallus-worship  in  India  34 

Phoenicians  supposed  to  have  colonized  the  North  of 
Europe,  and  to  have  left  traces  in  Ireland  and 

England 71  e(  seq. 

Piedrapintal 68 

Pierre  de  Saint-Clement 89 

-Loup 88 

Pierres  h.  bassins 59, 60 

Ecuelles 7. 60 


110 


INDEX. 


Page. 
Piette  ct  Sacaze,  Messrs.,    "Lea  MoDumenta  de  la 

Montagne  d'Eapiaup  ",  cited 19, 38 

Pitted  atouea 42 

Pomerania,  cup-marks  on  churches  in 87 

Portsmouth,  Ohio,  pebble  with  cup-ahaped  cavities 

from 4C 

Poaen,  Prusaia,  cups  on  churches  in 87 

Powell,  Major  J.  W.,  painted  and  sculptured  con- 
centric circles  frequently  noticed  by  him  in  the 

West  of  the  United  States 62 

Prenzlau,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Primitive  lapidarian  sculptures  in  Euiope  and  Asia.  9 

America 41 

Principal  types  of  cup  and  ring-shaped  sculptures. .  10, 11 

Production  of  primitive  lapidarian  sculptures 81, 82 

Prop-stone  of  dolmen  at  Lancresse,  cup-cuttinga  on.  12 

Q- 

Qucrfurt,  Prussia,  cupped  atone  near 24 

Quille  Harad,  Lan  of  Bohus,  Sweden,  rock-sculptures 

in 30 

K. 
Race  which  introduced    cup  and  ring-carvings  in 

Europe 79 

Kacea  which  occupied  the  British  lalands' 80, 81 

Eatho,   Scotland,  cup-cuttings  ou  cap-stoue  of  dol- 
men near 12 

Eavnkilde,  Jutland,  runic  atono  with  cupped  back- 
side at  26 

Keligious  signiticauce  of  cup  and  ling-cuttinga 78 

Kesemblance  between  megalithic  atmcturea  of  India 

and  Europe 33,37 

Eiesensteiu  near  Meissen,  Saxony 24 

King  and  cup-carvinga,  antiquity  of 78 

Kings,  concentric,  without  a  central  cup 11 

Riaby,  Schlcswig,  cup-stone  Irom  tumulus  at 23 

Eivelt-Camac,  Mr.  J.  H.,  "Archaeological  i*otes  on 

Ancient    Sculpturinga 

on  Kocka  in  Kumaon, 

India",  ci(ed....33,34,36,37,78 

commcnta   on    Profeasor 

Simpaon's  opinion 77 

description    of    Chandc- 

shwar  temple 35 

mounds  in  the  district  of 

Nagpoor,  India 31 

"  Prehistoric  Remains  in 

Central  India",  cited. .      32,  33 
"Rough    jS"otea    on   the 
Snake   Symbol  in   In- 
dia", cited 38 

sculptures  figured  by,  32,  34,  35, 36 
theory  in  regard  to  cup 

and  ringcuttiuga 37 

Rock-painting 62 

practiaed  by  Klamath  Indiana 65 

•sculptures  in  Centi'al  America 66 

in  Northumberland 15, 17 

Rocka,  isolated,  sculptures  on  surfaces  of 10 

with  mortar-cavities :5Q€t  seq. 

Roman  origin  of  cup  and  ring-sculptures,  supposed. .  70 
Roofing-stone  of  Mont  Saint- Michel,  at  Camac,  Brit- 
tany, cup-cuttings  on 13, 19 

Routing  Linn  Stone 83 

Riigen,  Island  of,  cup-marks  ou  churchea  in 87 

Runic  inscriptions  on  eup'Stonea  23,26 


-  Pago. 

Sabean  worship 75 

Sagard,  Pmasia,  cup-marka  on  church  in 87 

San  Pete  Valley,  Utah,  carved  group  on  c.iif  in 64 

Sandstone  employed  for  nut-atonea 45 

Santa  Barbara  County,  California,  rocka  with  mortar- 
cavities  in 57,58 

Inezrangeof  mountaina,  Califomia,  rocka  with 

mortar-caviliea  in 53 

Savannah  River.  Georgia,  nut-stones  fiom...' 44 

Scania,  cupped  holy -water  basins  in  churches  in 85 

Scarborough,  England,  cupped  alone  from  neighbor- 
hood of 13 

Schalenateine 7 

Schleawig,  cup-atones  found  in 22,  23 

Schliemann,  Dr.,  remarks  by 74 

Schoolcraft,  Mr.  11. 11.,  attempted  interpretation  of  a 

rock-sculpture  in  Utah , 64 

Schwartz,  Mr.  W.,  report  on  cups  on  churches  iji 

Poaen gy 

Scotland,  archaic  sculptures  of  cupa  and  ringa  in  . ..  9 

Auchnabreach,  rock-sculptures  at 11, 12 

cup-aculptures  in Het  seq. 

Sculptured  menhir-  at  Eallymenach,  Scotland 12 

rocks  in  the  United  States 00 

Sculptures,  primitive,  typea  of 10 

mentioned  by  Mr.  Tate 17 

on  atones  of  cairns  in  Ireland 18 

on  atones  connected  with  archaic  habita- 
tions   10 

archaic   sepul- 
ture    9 

primitive  lapidarian,  in  Europe  and  Aaia.  9 

America 41 

significance  of 71 

Seeland,  Denmark,  artificial  foot-tracks  on  atonea  in.  26 

cup-cuttings  in 26 

Seemann,  Dr.  B.,  "Narrative  of  the  Voyage  of  H.  M. 

S.  Herald ",  cited  66 

on     rock-aculpturcs      in      Central 

America GG  et  seq. 

Sepulture,  archaic,  stones  connected  with ,  9 

Ships,  sculptured 27,  29, 30 

Sierra  Waco,  Texaa,  rock  with  mortar-cavitiea  in...  57 
Similarity  of  Central  American  and  British  rock- 

aculpturca 67 

Chandeshwai'  and   Bald  Friar   rock- 

aculpturea 62 

Simpaon,  Prof.  J.  Y.,  "Archaic  Sculpturea  of  Cupa, 
Circlea,  etc.,  upon  Stones 
and  Rocks  in  Scotland,  Eng- 
land, and  other  Countries", 

cited pastdm,  9,27,29,75,81,82 

carvings  figured  by 11,12,13,14,17 

claasification  of  cup  and  ring- 
sculptures  10 

describes  experiment  in  carv- 
ing in  atone 82 

objections    to  Professor   Xila- 

sou'a  Phoenician  theory 75 

Single  cups 10 

Siva,  namea  giveu  to 34 

-worahip 34, 38 

Soapatone  employed  for  nutatonea 44,45 

Spandau,  Pmasia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Spindle-aoeket-stonea,  name  giveu  to  cup-stones 49 


INDEX. 


Ill 


Spindles  used  by  "Western  Indians 50 

Spiral  form  of  concentric  circular  lines 11, 15, 18 

Spraguo  River,  Oregon,  painted  rock  near 65 

Squicr  and  Davis,  Messrs.,  describe  a  cup-stone 48 

Standing  stone  in  tbo  Village  of  the  Forest,  Island 

of  Guemsi-y,  cup-cuttings  on 13 

near  Edinburgh,  cupped 14 

Stationary  mortars 59 

Stettin,  Prussia,  cup-raarks  on  church  in 87 

Stevens,  Mr,  E.    T.,  describes  a  cup-stone  in  the 

Blackmore  Museum 48 

"  Flint  Chips  ",  cited 19,49 

Stevenson,  Mr.  James,  obtains  paint-cups 47 

Stone  circle  on  Cloughton  Moor,  England,  cup-cut- 
tings on  stone  within  13 

at  Moncrieff,  Scotland,  cup-cuttings  on 

stone  "within 13 

surrounding   cist  at  Oatlands,   Isle  of 

Man,  cup-cuttings  on  block  of 13 

cists,  sculptures  on 9, 15 

Stonehenge,  England,  supposed  to  bo  a  Phoenician 

structure 74 

Stones  of  dolmens,  sculptures  on 9,18,19 

megalithic  avenues,  sculptures  on 9 

circles,  sculptures  on 9, 19 

Stolzenberg,  Austria,  cup-stones  on  the 25 

Stralsund,  Prussia,  cup-markft  on  church  in 87 

Strausberg,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Stro,  Sweden,  cupped  holy-water  basin  in  church  at.  85 

Strobel,  Prof.  P.,  letter  to  M.  G.  do  Mortillet,  cited  . .  56 
Stubbs,    Dr.    Charles   H.,   account   of    Bald    Friar 

Rock 60  etseq. 

Summit  County,  Ohio,  cup-stone  from 46 

Sun-worship,  concentric  rings  emblematic  of 71 

Superstitions  atlached  to  prehistoric  implements  ...  86 

regarding  cup-marks  on  churches 88 

Susquehanna  River,  pitted  stones  found  near 43 

Sweden,  primitive  sculptures  found  in 9,28,29,30 

Baal  or  Balder  Stone  near  Falkijping 14 

Switzerland,  cup-sculptures  in 21, 22 

stationary  mortar  (?)  in 59 

cup-marks  on  churches  in 87 

T. 

Tacitus,  "  Vita  Agricolse",  cited 79 

Tate,  Mr.  George,  inferences  from  distribution  of  cup 

and  ring-carvings 81  et  seq. 

"The  Ancient  British  Sculptured 
Rocks  of   Northumberland  and 

the  Eastern  Borders",  cited 15,84 

Taylor,  Col.  Meadows,  on  megalithic  monuments 31 

Temple  of  Chandesh war,  description  of 33, 35, 36 

Tennessee,  cup-stones  from 47 

nut-stone  from 45 

Teololinga,  a  rock  near  Orizaba,  Mexico 55 

Tesuque  Indians,  paint-cups  of 47 

Texas,  sculptured  and  painted  rock  in 57 

Thun,  Switzerland,  cup-marks  on  church  in  87 

Time-reckoning,  American  and  Asiatic 92 

Towns,  ancient,  sculptures  in  and  near 10 

Traditions  concerning  cup-cuttings  in  India 91 

cup-excavations  on   churches 

in  Germany 89 

Trisula,  attribute  of  Mahadeo 34 

Troyon,  M.  F.,  "Habitations  Lacustres  des  Temps 

Anciens  ct  Modemes  ",  cited 21,22 


Pago. 

Troyon,  M.F.,  on  cup-stone  in  the  Canton  of  Vaud..  21,22 

on  use  of  small  cup-stones 22 

Tumuli  at  Clava,  Scotland,  cup-cuttings  on  chamber- 
stones  in 13 

in  the  Nagpoor  district,  India 31, 3? 

Tumulus  at  Borreby,  Denmark,  cup-stone  from 26 

Risby,  Schleswig,  cup-stone  from 23 

in  Scania,  sculptured  slab  from 29 

Mont  Saint-Michel,  at   Camac,    Brittany, 

cup-cuttings  on  roofing-stone  of 13, 19 

near  Arrild,  Schleswig,  cup-stouo  from  ...  23 
on   Island  of  Gavr'   Inis,   sculptures   on 

stones  in 18,19,62 

on  Island  uf  Laaland,  artificial  foot-tracke 

on  block  of  stone  circle  of 26 

Tylor,  Mr.  E.  B.,  "Anahuac",  cited 92 

Types  of  primitive  sculptures 10 

U. 

Underground  houses,  sculptures  on  stones  of lU 

Dpsala,  Sweden,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

Urns,  covers  of,  sculptures  on 9 

Usedom,  Island  of,  cup-marks  on  churches  in 87 

Utah,  carved  gioup  oh  cliff  at  Manti 64 

V. 

Valley  of  the  Rhine,  cup-marks  on  churches  in  the, .  87 

Rhone,  cup-stones  in  the 19 

Veckenstedt,  Dr.  E.,  discovers  cup-marks  on  churches 

in  Brandenburg 87 

Veraguas,  Central  America,  incised  stones  in 67 

Verch^re,  Dr.,  discovers  cupped  boulders  in  India. ..  38 

Vetschau,  Prussia,  cup-marks  en  church  in 87 

Views  concerning  the  significance   of  cup-shaped 

sculptures 71 

Virchow,  Prof.  R.,  discovers  cup-marks  on  churches 

in  Switzerland  and  Germany 87 

Vitusberg,  Austria,  cup-stonee  on  the 25 

Voanas,  France,  stone  in  church  at 88 

Vogt,  Prof  Carl,  account  of  experiment  in  caiTing  in 

stone. 82 

Volute 11 

W. 
"Wagoner,  S.  C,  "Handbuch  der  vorzuglichsten  in 
Dcutschland    entdeckten  Alter- 
thiimer  aus  heidnischer  Zeit", 

cited 24, 25 

mentions  cup-stones 24 

Wales,  archaic  sculptures  in 9 

dolmen  near  Clynnog  Fawr,  cup-cuttings  on 

cap-stone  of 12, 13 

"Weoms,  sculptures  on  stones  of 10 

Westropp,  Mr.,  opinion  concerning  cup-sculptures  . .  84 

"Wexio,  Sweden,  cup-marks  on  church  in 87 

"Whittlesey.  Col.  Charles,   "Ancient  Earth  Forts  of 
the   Cuyahoga   Valley, 

Ohio  ",  dted 49 

describes  cup-stones 49 

Wilkinson,  Sir  Gardner,  opinion  respecting  cupped 

stones 75 

Willfara  slab,  supposed  purpose  of 71 

tumulus,  description  of 29 

"Wiltshire,  England,  megalithic  structures  in 74 

Wilson,  Dr.,  on  megalithic  monuments 31 

Wilson,    Prof   Daniel,    illustration     of     tho     Caiy 

Stone  14 


112 


INDEX. 


Wilson,  Prof.  Baniel,  "The  Archasology  and  Pre- 
historic Annals  of  Scot- 
land," cited 

"Woldt,  Dr.,  notices  cnp-marks  on  churches  in  Berlin, 

Prussia 

"Wolgaat,  Prussia,  cup-marks  on  church  in 

Wooden  mortars 

Worsaae,  Mr.  J.  J.  A.,  age  of  Danish  sculptures 

"Die  Vorgeschichte  des  Nor- 

dens",  cited 

"  Nordiske  Oldsager  i  det 
Kongelige  Museum  i 
Kjiibenhavn",  cited 


Page. 


Worsaae,  Mr.  J.  J.  A., 


•The  Primeval  Antiquities 
of  Denmark  ",  cited 


Toni,  symbol 34, 78 

Torkshire,  England,  description  of  barrow  in 16 

cupped  stones  in 17 

Z. 

Zapf,  Dr.  L.,    "Die   Muldensteino   des    Fichtelge- 

birges,"  cited 59 

Zuiii  Indians,  paint-cups  of 47 

Ziiricb,  Switzerland,  cup-stones  in  the  cuvirons  of. . .  21 


TYPE    I. 

C5     ©     O      < 


TYPE    2. 


TYPE    3. 


TYPE  4-. 


TYPE    5. 


TYPE   6. 


TYPE  7. 


Fig.  1. — Comiuou  types  of  European  cup  and  nng-cuttiugs. 


I 


c^e-€>r 


Fig.  2. — Chief  deviations  from  the  general  types  of  European  cup  and  ring-cuttings. 


Fig.  3.— Sculptured  rock-surfaces  at  Auchnalireach,  Argyleshire,  Scotland, 


Fig.  4.— Cup  and  riug-cuttiugs  on  a  menhir  at  Ballymeuach, 
Argyleshire,  Scotland. 


Fig.  5. — Dolmen  with  cui)-m;irkod  cap-stoue,  ucar  Clyuuog  Fiiwr,  CaTuarvoushire,  Wales. 


Fig.  t).— Kistvifu  surrounded  by  blocks,  one  of  which  is  cup-marked.     Oatlands, 
Isle  of  Man. 


Fig.  7. — Cupped  stone  in  a  chambered  tumulus  at  C'lava,  Inverness-.shire,  Scotland. 


Fig.  8. — Cupped  uiouolitli  near  Dunbar,  East-Lothian,  Scotland. 


Fig.  9. — Large  cup-stone  near  Balvraid,  luveruess-shire,  Scotland. 


Fig.  10. — Cupped  etouc  found  at  Laws,  Forlarsliiio,  Scotland. 


Fig.  11. — Stone  with  cup  aud  ring-cuttings.     County  of  Kerry,  Ireland. 


Fig.  12.  — Incised  etone  in  tbc  tumulu.9  at  Lougli  Crew,  Ireland. 


Fig.  13. — Carviug  of  a  celt  in  a  iilumed  haudle  ou  the  i^oof  of  a 
dolmen  near  Locmariaker,  Brittany. 


Fig.  14. — Incised  cliamber-stoues  iu  the  tumulus  of  Ga\T'  luU, 
Brittauv. 


Fig.  15. — "  La  Boule  de  Gargautua,"  a  cupped  boulder  near 
Belley,  Ain,  France. 


Fig.  16. — Cup-cuttiugs  on  a  rock  near  Chirac,  Lozfere,  France. 


Fig.  17. — Cupped  block  uear  Mout-la-Ville,  Cautou  of  Vaud, 
Switzerland. 


Fig.  18. — Fac-simile  representation  of  a  cupped  rock  near  Ober- 
Farrenstadt,  Prussian  Saxony. 


Fig.  19. Fac-simile  representation  of  a  cupped  rock  near  Meissen, 


Fig.  '20. — Cupped  backside  of  a  runic  stoue  at  Eavuliildc  .liitland, 
Denmark. 


Fig.  21. — Tracings  of  ships  and  wheels  on  the  roof-stone  of  a  fuuer.al 
cLamher  near  HeiTestrup,  Seeland,  Denmark. 


Fig.  22. — The  "Balder  Stone"  near  l^'alkopiug,  Sweden. 


Fig.  23.— stone  slab  ol... ,..,.;;  t„i,.,  .lud  cngiavuil  Jcsiyua.    From 
a  tumulus  iu  .Scauia,  Sweden. 


1''='^ — ' 

"~ 

^--. 

-  4 

J 

V    1  I 

1 1 

Fig.  24.— One  of  the  engraved  slabs  of  the  Kivik  monument, 
Scania,  Sweden. 


©      • 


• 


UAmuiiuuiiiiiiiui/ 


V ^  ® 


L 


HH»»iffiti 


.y 


-<«*•     t^ 


Fig.  25. — Rock-sculptures  in  Quille  Harad,  Lan  of  Bohus,  Sweden. 


i'lii.  26.— Clip  ami  liug-cuttings  at  Cliaudesliwiir,  India. 


Fig.  27 — Sectiou  of  a  stoue  Maliadeo  iu  the  temple  of 
Chaudcshwar,  India. 


I'm.  28. — Maliadeo  in  a  sliriuc  at,  Benare.s,  India. 


Figs.  2S>,  30,  and  31. — lI;iUa<leo  symbols  engraved  on  stouo  slabs  in  Ibc  temple 
of  Cliaudeshw.ir,  India. 


Fig.   32. — Pitted   stone  found  near  Franklin,   Williamson   County, 
Tennessee  (Mus.  No.   19953). 


Fig.  33. — Pitted  stone  lioni  Muncy,  Lycoming  County,  Pennsylvania. 


Fig.  34. — Nnt-stone  from  (lie  neighborliood  of  IiOii(lon,ljf'udon  County, 
Tennessee  (Mu.s.  No.  21647). 


Fig.  35. — Cupped  stoue  fouud  near  Groveport,  Franklin  County, 
Ohio  (Mils.  No.  7743). 


Fig    3().— Cupped  stoiio  from  tbe  neighborhood  of  Portsmouth, 
01iio(Mus.  No.  19594). 


Fig.  :)7.— Clipped  stone  from  Summit  County,  Ohio  (Mns.  No.  98018). 


Fig.  38. — Earthenware  paint-cups  used  by  the  ZuSis,  New  Mexico. 
(Mus.  No.  40446). 


Fig.  39. — Stone  mortar  and  pestle  with  a  cup-shaped  cavity.     From 
the  Tesuque  Indiaus,  New  Mexico  (Mus.  No.  42340). 


FiG£.  ¥>  »mI  41. — Tcna  cnma  «- 


<m  Tezenev.  K 


Scale  :  1  iucli  =  2  feet. 

Fig.  43. — Cui>i)ed  granite  boulder  at  Niautic,  Now  London 
County,  Connecticut. 


Fig.  44. — Cupped  (?)  rock  in  tlie  iieigUboiUoud  of  Orizaba,  Mexico. 


-;■«,■'  '  /  -^'in- 1. ' ' 


Fig.  46. — Sculptures  on  Bald  Friar  Rock,  in  the  Susquehanna 
River,  Maryland. 


Fig.  47.— Sculptured  slab  from  Bald  Friar  Rock  (Mus.  No.  39010). 


Ftg.  48. — Northeastern  end  of  Bald  Friav  Rock. 


ll'.    ■!'(  l'"Ii:.  r>0.  Fl.i.  51. 

Figs.  49,  50,  and  51  (tV).— Sculptures  on  Bald  Friar  Kock. 


Fig.  52. — Sculptui'ecl  boulder  iu  the  Gila  Valley,  Arizona. 


u 
(0 


Fig.  .53. — Rock-carviug  iu  the  Sau  Pete  Valley,  Utah. 


Fig   54.  Fig.  55.  I''ii..  SC.  Fig.  57. 

Figs.  54,  55,  56,  aud  ,57  (i^j). — Rock-paintings  in  Lake  Couuty,  Oregon. 


Fig.  58. — Rock-sculptures  uear  David,  Cliiriqui,  ami  Northumbrian  types. 

No.  1  represents  two  radiant  suua — a  the  American,  6  tbe  British  character;  in  Chiriqui 
Inis  character  has  been  founil  but  once,  nor  does  it  occur  oftener  among  the  pub- 
lished British  figures. 

No.  2.  a  the  American,  h  the  corresponding  British  figure,  showing  several  grooves 
radiating  from  an  outer  arch,  i.nd  bearing  some  resemblance  to  what  is  termed 
the  "Ogham  ch'iracters"  by  British  antitiuaries. 

No.  3.  a  the  American,  b  the  corresponding  British  figure,  showing  the  completely 
closed  concentric  circles. 

No.  4.  a  the  American,  b  the  corresponding  British  figure,  showing  how  the  various 
characters  (symbols)  are  connected  by  lines. 

No.  0.  a  the  American,  h  the  correeponding  British  tignre.  showing  the  groove  or  outlet 
of  the  circle. 


y^-T^./V-  /7. 


Fig.  59. — Holy-water  stone  in  a  chnrch  at  Stro,  in  Scania,  Sweden. 


Ij'lG.  60. — Holy-water  stone  in  a  church  ;it  Oenuarp,  Scania. 


Fig.  61. — Cups  and  furrows  on  the  wall  of  Saint  Mary's  Church, 
at  Greifswald.  Pomerania. 


DEPAETMENT    OF    THE    INTERIOR 

U.  S,  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  REGION 
J.  W.  POWELL  IN  CiiAUGE 


oisr 


PREHISTORIC  TREPHINING 


CRANIAL    AMULETS 


ROBERT  FLETCHER  M.  R.  C.  S.  Eng. 


ACT.  ASST.  SURGEON  U.  S.  ARMY 


'^"■^   '   "^^ 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE 

18S2 


I^IST  OF  II.I.USTRATIO]SrS. 


Page. 

Pl.vtk      I. — Cranial  amulets •> 

II. — Crauium  exhibiting  surgical  trephining 7 

III. — Crania  showing  effect  of  fracture  and  disease ^ 

IV. — Vertex  of  skull  showing  elfect  of  saber-stroke 10 

V. — Cranium  exhibiting  effect  of  early  surgical  trephining 11 

VI.— Cranium  exhibiting  both  surgical  and  post-mortem  trephining 13 

VII. — The  Inca  skull  from  Peru 24 

VIII. — Instruments  for  trephining  used  by  the  Kabyles 26 

IX.— Cranium  artificially  trephined  by  M.  Championnifere 29 

Figure    1. — Perforated  skull  from  Sable  River,  Michigan 24 

2. — Fragment  from  Kabyle  skull 26 

3 


U.  S.  G.  AND  C.  SURVFY. 


PREirrsTORrc  trfthining,  n.  i. 


G  A 


^\£§  - 


Figs.  1  and  2.  The  rondelle  of  Lyons.  Fig.  3.  An  amulet  from  La  Lozfere :  A-B,  tbe  cicatrized  edge  from  surgical 
trephining ;  A-C,  B-D,  postmortem  sections.  Flo.  4.  A-B,  cicatrized  edge.  Fig.  5.  Amnlet  with  grooTe  for  sus- 
pension.       All  natural  size.     (Broca.) 


ON  PREHISTORIC  TREPHINING  AND  CRANIAL  AMULETS. 


liY  KOBEKT  FLETCHEK. 


Since  the  publication  of"  Professor  Broca's  interesting  article  on  Cra- 
nial Amulets  and  Prehistoric  Trephining,  in  1877/  no  connected  account 
has  been  attempted,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  of  the  additional  discov- 
eries which  have  been  reported.  These  are  scattered  through  the  journals 
on  anthropology,  and  it  would  seem  that  a  review  of  the  whole  subject, 
commencing  with  a  summary  of  Broca's  observations  and  arguments,  and 
bringing  together  subsequent  discoveries,  would  not  only  be  of  interest  in 
itself,  but'might  result  in  more  careful  observation,  leading  perhaps  to  dis- 
coveries of  a  similar  custom  in  America. 

The  first  communication  upon  the  subject  of  cranial  amulets,  and  which 
led  to  the  discovery  of  evidence  of  prehistoric  trephining,  was  made  in 
August,  1873,  by  M.  Pruniferes,  at  the  meeting,  at  Lyons,  of  the  French 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science.^  M.  Pruniferes  is  well  known 
for  his  researches  in  connection  with  the  dolmens  of  La  Loz^re.  He 
exhibited  to  the  association  a  piece  of  bone  of  an  ovoid  shape,  5')  milli- 
meters by  38  in  its  two  diameters.  (See  Plate  I,  figs.  1  and  2.)  The  two 
faces  were  untouched,  but  the  edges  had  been  beveled  and  most  carefully 
polished.  It  was  discovered  in  the  interior  of  a  skull  the  entire  side  of 
which  had  been  cut  away,  but  it  was  not  a  part  of  this  skull ;  the  difference 

'  Sur  la  trepanation  An  cr3,no,  ct  les  amulettes  cranienues  k  I'^poque  n^olitliique,  par  Paul  Broca. 
Paris,  1877,  8°.  Also,  Rev.  (Vanthrop.,  Paris,  1877,  vi,  1-42;  193-225.  Also,  Congrfes  d'anthrop.  et 
d'arcb<Sol.  pr^hist.,  Budapest,  1876,  101-192. 

^ Assoc,  franfaise  pour  I'avaucemcut  des  sciences.  Compte  rendu  de  la  2"""  sess.,  Lyou,  1873,  Paris, 
l-!r4.     S'\  p.  703. 

/ 


6  PEEHISTOlllC  TKErHlNUsG. 

ill  color,  thickness,  and  density  of  structure  showing-,  beyond  a  doubt,  that 
it  had  formed  part  of  another  cranium. 

At  various  times  similar  pieces  of  bone  were  discovered,  in  some  of 
which  holes  had  been  drilled  or  grooves  cut,  as  if  for  the  pvirpose  of  sus- 
pending the  fragments  from  the  person.  The  name  of  "rondelles"  has 
generally  been  applied  to  these  fragments,  although  some  archa'.ologists, 
accepting  the  theory  of  M.  Prunicres,  have  termed  them  amulets.  (Plate  I, 
figs.  3,  4,  and  5.) 

The  iise  of  amulets,  as  is  well  known,  comes  down  from  the  very  ear- 
liest period,  and  M.  Prunieres  was  of  opinion  that  the  extreme  care  bestowed 
in  polishing  these  fragments,  together  with  the  fact  that  no  other  purpose 
could  be  divined  for  them,  was  sufficient  evidence  as  to  the  use  for  which 
they  were  intended.  The  latter  reason,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  not  strikingly 
convincing. 

As  early  as  1868,  M.  Prunieres  discovered,  in  a  large  dolmen  near 
Aiguieres,  a  skull  of  which  a  large  part  of  the  side  had  been  removed. 
This  operation  had  evidently  been  effected  by  a  cutting  or  sawing  process, 
although  one  portion  of  the  edge  appeared  smooth  and  polished.  Many 
"rondelles"  Avere  discovered  in  the  same  spot,  and  M.  Pruniferes  formed  the 
theory  that  they  were  pieces  removed  in  converting  a  skull  into  a  drinking 
cup.  To  drink  from  the  skull  of  a  dead  enemy  was  a  refined  enjoyment 
not  exclusively  practiced  in  the  Walhalla  of  the  Norsemen.  Livy  tells  us 
that  the  Gauls  celebrated  their  victories  in  that  manner,^  and  M.  Pruniferes 
supposed  that  the  skull  and  fragments  which  he  had  unearthed  were  relics 
of  a  similar  custom.  He  made  known  his  views  to  the  Paris  Society  of 
Anthropology  in  1874,*  accompanying  his  comnuuiication  with  specimens 
of  perforated  skulls  and  rondelles. 

These  pieces  were  examined  by  Professor  Broca,  who  at  once  observed 
that  the  smooth  or  polished  condition  of  parts  of  the  edges  of  the  rondelles 

^A  cup  made  IVom  :i  human  skull  was  exhumed  by  Mr.  E.  K.  Quick,  in  1880,  from  an  aboriginal 
cemetery  uear  Brookvillc,  Franklin  County,  Indiana.  From  its  size,  and  from  the  distinctness  of  llie 
sutures,  it  was  evidently  the  skull  of  a  young  person.  The  base  had  been  removed,  and  both  the  inside 
and  outside  had  been  scraped,  as  the  scratches  on  the  bone  indicated.  Two  small  holes  had  been  drilled 
at  one  spot  near  the  edge,  evidently  for  the  insertion  of  tendons  or  strings  to  check  au  incipient  crack, 
just  as  the  modern  housewife  saves  a  bowl  or  teacup.  Journal  Cincinnati  Soc.  \at.  Hist.,  1880-'81,  iii, 
•29G.     Plate  of  same  in  vol.  iv,  p.  257. 

^Bull.  Soc.  d'anthrop.  de  Paris,  1871,  •J"''-'  scr.,  ix,  ldO-'2U.r>. 


U.  S.  G.  AND  G.  SURfEi: 


PREHISTORIC  TREPHINING,  PL  II. 


Cranium  from  the  cavern  of  L'Homme-Mort  (La  LozAre).     Surgical  tropbining  bas  been  performed  npon  tbe  sagit- 
tal snlure.    Two-tbirda  natural  size.    (Prnnidres.) 


FiEicKiM  BROCA'S  CONCLUSIONS— ON  WHAT  BASED  7 

and  of  the  sections  of  the  skull  was  due,  not  to  artificial  polishing,  but  to 
a. process  of  natural  cicatrization,  which  must  necessarily  have  taken  place 
during  life,  and,  indeed,  many  yewrs  before  death.     (Plate  II.) 

After  examination  of  a  great  many  other  specimens,  Broca  finally 
annoimced  two  conclusions  as  the  result  of  his  investigations: 

I.  In  the  neolithic  age,  a  surgical  operation  was  sometimes  performed 
for  the  cure  of  certain  internal  maladies,  which  consisted  in  making  an  open- 
ing in  the  skull.  This  was  almost,  if  not  quite,  exclusively  practiced  on 
young  children,  and  is  to  be  termed  prehistoric  surgical  trephining. 

II.  The  skulls  of  those  who  survived  this  operation  were  supposed  to 
possess  some  remarkable  qiuilities,  and  when  the  owners  died,  amulets  or 
rondelles,  consisting  of  portions  of  the  skull,  were  carefully  cut  out.  By 
preference,  the  portion  should  contain  a  segment  of  the  original  aperture. 
This  was  posthumous  trephining.^ 

A  concise  account  must  be  given  of  the  evidence  n])on  which  these 
conclusions  were  based. 

To  the  practiced  eye  there  is  no  difficulty  whatever  in  distinguishing 
between  a  section  of  bone  which  has  not  been  followed  by  any  reparative 
process  and  one  in  which  that  jirocess  has  gone  on  to  completion.  In 
the  first  case,  the  edges  are  sharp,  the  cells  of  the  diploe  are  open,  and  the 
action  of  the  cutting  instrument  is  seen  in  the  successive  cuts  by  which  the 
operation  has  been  performed.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  scratches  on  the 
surface  of  the  bone,  indicating  where  the  tool  had  slipped  away  from  the 
intended  incision.     (Plate  I,  fig.  3.) 

When  cicatrization  of  a  trephined  or  fractured  skull  has  been  perfected, 
the  edges  present  a  rounded,  ivory-like  surface,  due  to  the  new  osseous  tissue 
deposited  in  the  cells  of  the  diploe  and  upon  the  edges  of  the  outer  and 
inner  tables. 

But  while  it  is  easy  to  discriminate  between  a  post-mortem  incision  and 
one  long  since  healed,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  decide  that  the  incision 
might  not  have  been  made  during  life,  but  shortly  before  death.  The  pro- 
cess of  repair  in  bone  is  much  slower  than  in  softer  tissues,  and  it  has  been 
suggested  that  the  cases  of  so-called  posthumous  trephining  were  really 

■'Sur  la  tri;pauatiou  du  ciuui',  etc.,  \t.  9. 


8  PREHISTOEIO  TRErniNING. 

cases  in  which  the  operation  had  resulted  fatally  in  a  very  short  time,  and 
before  any  jjrocess  of  repair  had  commenced.  To  this  it  may  be  replied 
that  no  examples  have  hitherto  been  found  of  skulls  ori-ondelles  where  the 
section  was  in  process  of  cicatrization;  all  are  either  entirely  fresh,  or  long 
since  healed."  It  would  be  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  these  operations 
were  entirely  successful  or  else  immediately  fatal.  The  operation,  in  itself, 
is  not  very  dangerous  to  life,  as  has  been  shown  by  manj^  experiments  on 
animals.  Its  mortality  as  a  surgical  measure,  in  cases  of  fracture  of  the 
skull,  is  due  to  the  serious  injury  to  the  bi'ain  for  which  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  employ  it. 

A  more  convincing  reply  is  that,  in  the  greater  luimber  of  the  trephined 
skulls  in  question,  the  ttvo  sections  coexist;  a  portion  exhibiting  the  rounded, 
ivory  surface  of  ancient  cicatrization,  the  rest  of  the  section  being  absolutely 
fresh.     (See  Plates  I,  V,  and  VI.) 

The  suggestion  that  these  apertures  were  the  result  of  blows  from 
weapons  must  be  at  once  dismissed.  No  weapon  of  that  day,  or  this,  could 
produce  such  openings  with  their  well-defined,  beveled  edges.  The  blows 
of  stone  hammers  or  axes  resulted  generally  in  necrosis,  or  death  of  the 
bone,  and  often  in  disruption  or  bulging  of  tlie  inner  table  of  the  skull  for 
some  distance  from  the  seat  of  injury.  Some  excellent  examples  of  the 
consequences  of  such  formidable  injuries  are  to  be  seen  in  an  article  by  Dr. 
F.  W.  Langdon,  describing  the  crania  in  a  prehistoric  cemeter}'  at  Madison- 
ville,  Ohio."  The  accompanying  plate  (Plate  III),  copied  by  Dr.  Langdon's 
permission,  well  illustrates  the  striking  difference  between  the  results  of 
blows  followed  by  necrosis  of  the  bone,  and  the  condition  succeeding  the 
operation  of  trephining. 

The  apertures  made  by  the  so-called  surgical  trephining  do  not  difier 
greatly  in  size;  they  are  nearly  always  elliptical,  seldom  round,  and  extend 
from  35  to  50  millimeters  in  length,  hv  6  to  10  millimeters  in  breadth.  The 
edges  are  very  oblique,  at  the  expense  of  the  outer  table  of  the  skull.  The 
operation  appears  to  have    been  performed    upon  all  parts  of  the  head, 

•iSome  more  recent  discoveries,  however,  which  will  be  referred  to  later,  show  that  this  assertion 
of  Broca's  was  rather  too  sweeping. 

"The Madisonville  jirehistoric  cemetery;  anthropological  notes.  By  F.  W.  Langdon,  M.  D.  Jour- 
nal of  the  Cincinnati  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  iv,  Oct.,  1«81,  250-253. 


r.  S.  G.  AND  G.  SUKl'EV. 


PK£JfIST()KIC  TREPIUNING.  /'/.  ///. 


Fig.  1.  Pcrforatiug  fracture  of  the  left  parietal  near  its  posterior  superior  anjrle;  internal  view  showing  the  de- 
pressed fragment  of  the  internal  table  which  has  reunited.  Fig.  2.  Result  of  injury  to  right  frontal  and  parietal 
region,  causing  cxtcnsivo  sinuses  between,  the  inner  and  outer  table.        Natural  size.     (Langdou.) 


rLETciicni  ABNUEMAL  CKANIAL  APEllTURES.  9 

excepting  the  forehead,  but  in  the  greater  number  of  instances  one  of  the 
parietal  bones  has  been  the  chosen  site.  There  is  a  very  interesting  skull 
in  the  Mustie  Broca  [crane  de  Vaurdal  (Oise)],  which,  in  addition  to  a  large 
depression  in  the  frontal  bone,  presents  a  remarkable  instance  of  ti'ephining 
on  the  occipital,  two-thirds  of  that  bone  having  disappeared.  Part  of  this 
opening  is  due  to  the  surgical  operation,  the  elliptical  edges,  about  half  of 
the  original  aperture,  exhibiting  the  characteristic  ivor3^-like  surface  of  cica- 
trization, while  the  remainder  has  been  removed  by  post-mortem  trephining.^ 

In  no  instance  has  an  artificial  opening  been  observed  excepting  where 
the  bone  was  covered  by  the  hairy  scalp,  and  that  the  purpose  was  to  avoid 
noticeable  disfigurement  seems  a  justifiable  conclusion.  It  is  also  another 
ai'gument  against  possible  origin  from  wounds  in  battle,  as  in  such  cases 
the  forehead  was  the  part  most  liable  to  be  injured. 

Broca  states  that  the  operation  nmst  have  been  performed  just  as  fre- 
quently on  the  female  as  on  the  male. 

It  is  necessary  to  inquire  what  other  causes  may  account  for  abnormal 
cranial  apertures. 

I.  There  are  congenital  deficiencies.  These  are  generally  found  in 
the  parietal  bones,  and  are  nearly  always  symmetrical,  being  found  in  both 
bones.  A  single  congenital  aperture  has  been  sometimes  observed  through 
which  hernia  of  the  brain  and  meninges  has  taken  place.  In  such  cases 
the  edges  are  everted  and  show  a  more  or  less  diseased  condition. 

II.  Disease  of  the  bone  may  produce  openings  which  may  afterwards 
become  cicatrized,  and  thus  resemble  the  apertures  in  question;  but  disease 
of  the  bone  always  extends  beyond  the  limits  of  the  perforation  produced, 
and  leaves  indelible  traces.  A  close  examination  of  these  trephined  neolithic 
skulls  shows  a  perfectly  sound  condition  of  the  bone  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
a})erture  in  all  cases." 

III.  Traumatic  sources  have  been  already  discussed  and  dismissed. 
Even  the  cavalry  saber  of  to-day  could  not  produce  such  results.     It  does 

^L^sions  osseuses  <lc  I'homme  pr(?liistorique  eu  France  1 1.  en  Alg^rie,  par  Jules  Le  Baron.  Paris. 
1831,  4°  (these),  p.  47.  , 

"111  this  Broca  was  inistalien.  A  very  remarkable  instance  of  trephining  in  connection  with 
disease  of  the  bones  of  the  cranium  w  as  communicated  to  the  Soci^t^  d'anthropologie  by  M.  Parrot,  in 
1H81.     A  ilcseriptiou  of  the  relic,  will  be  found  farther  ou. 


10  PREHISTOEIO  TEEPHINING. 

occasionally  cut  off  a  slice  of  the  cranium,  but  it  certainly  could  not  cut 
out  rondelles  from  the  parietal  bones.     (See  Plate  IV.) 

Contused  wounds,  such  as  would  be  produced  by  rude  weapons,  pro- 
duce necrosis  or  death  of  the  bone,  and  where  healing  takes  place  irregular 
apertures  remain,  entirely  unlike  the  result  of  a  surgical  operation. 

The  reparative  process  in  wounds  of  the  cranium  in  the  adult  is  one 
of  extreme  slowness.  An  osteitis,  or  inflannnatlon  of  the  bone,  is  set  up, 
which  extends  to  some  distance  from  the  edges  of  the  wound.  The  vascular 
canaliculi  of  the  two  tables  become  dilated,  and  it  is  often  years  before 
they  recover  their  normal  caliber.  But  in  tlie  skulls  under  discussion,  in 
all  instances,  the  edges  of  the  aperture  made  by  surgical  trephining  exhibit 
the  most  perfect  readjustment  of  the  parts.  This  is  the  case  in  young  as 
well  as  in  old  crania;  in  one  instance  particularly,  that  of  a  woman  of  less 
than  twenty-five  years  of  age,  the  wisdom  teeth  being  still  in  process  of 
development,  the  traces  of  the  traumatic  inflannnation  have  as  completely 
disappeared  as  in  the  skulls  of  very  old  persons.  Tliis  led  Broca  to  believe 
that  the  operation  must  have  been  performed  at  a  very  early  age,  and  other 
observations  tend  to  confirm  that  theoiy.  Although  the  operation  of  tre- 
phining, as  before  stated,  is  not  a  very  dangerous  one  wlien  uncomplicated 
by  injury  to  the  brain,  yet  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  it  was 
never  fatal.  If  sometimes  fatal,  we  should  expect  to  find  skulls  exhibiting 
the  evidence  of  partial  recuperative  process.  But,  with  one  exception,  no 
such  relics  have  been  discovered;  the  edges  of  the  openings  are  either 
absolutely  fresh,  indicating  post-mortem  work,  or  absolutely  cicatrized, 
indicating  that  the  operation  had  been  performed  many  years  before  the 
death  of  the  subject.     What  then  became  of  the  failures? 

If  the  operation  was  performed  only  on  young  children,  then  the  rapid 
decay  of  their  tender  bones  would  answer  the  question.  In  dolmens  con- 
taining a  large  number  of  adult  crania,  it  is  usual  to  find  nothing  but  mere 
debris  of  the  bones  of  children,  and  in  the  case  of  trephined  skulls,  the  thin 
edges  of  the  apertures  would  offer  favorable  points  for  the  chemical  and 
physical  agency  of  erofion. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  relate  all  tlie  observations  and  arguments  -^^hich  led 
Broca  to  the  conclusion  that  i)rehistoric  trephining  was  performed  mainly, 


AND  G.  SURVEY. 


rKEHlHTORlC  TKEPIIINING^  ri.  IV. 


LiiHa  of  Rill  stanrc  from  the  vertex  of  a  skull  prodiKid  by  the  stroke  of  u  Tartar  saber.    Kalural  size.     (Miisee  Broca. ) 


U.  S.  G.  AND  C.  SURI'EV. 


PKEinSTOKlC  TREI'JI/N/NG,  PL  /'. 


^1 


Cranium  from  Cibouniics.  A-P,  median  line;  E,  left  estemal  orbital  apophysis;  T,  ri;j;htc 
brolicn.  Or-h,  the  cicatrized  edge  of  surgical  trepbining;  a-c,  b-d,  postmortem  sections.  Tho  i 
following  tlio  lino  C-D,  has  been  driven  over  to  the  left.    Two-thlrda  natural  size.    (Broca.) 


tcrnal  orbital  apophysis 
agittal  suture,  instead  o 


fUMciiEi-,.;  DIFFERENT  METHODS  OF  TREPHINING.  11 

if  not  entirely,  upon  the  young-  child,  but  one  especially  striking  and 
ingenious  illustration  which  he  founded  upon  a  cranium  discovered  by 
Praniferes  in  the  dolmen  of  Cibournios  must  be  related. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  sutures  of  the  skull  tend  to  become  firmly 
united  Avith  the  advance  of  years.  In  the  young  child  the  remains  of  the 
sutural  membrane  still  exist,  and  a  separation  is  easy.  In  the  accompany- 
ing drawing  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  left  parietal  bone  has  been  operated 
upon,  and  the  resistance  of  the  arch  on  that  side  being  thereby  diminished, 
the  right  parietal  has  encroached  considerably  over  the  median  line,  in  the 
process  of  after  growth,  indicating  the  youth  of  the  subject  at  the  time  of 
the  operation.     (Plate  V.) 

As  regards  the  general  harmlessness  of  the  operation,  there  is  a  view 
which  must  be  suggested,  in  passing,  which  has  not  been  considered  before 
in  this  connection,  and  that  is  the  relation  of  race  to  traumatism.  In  other 
words,  the  capacity  to  bear  wounds  or  surgical  operations,  or  the  contrary, 
dependent  not  on  individual  but  on  race  characteristics.  Long  ago,  Velpeau 
said  that  French  flesh  and  English  flesh  were  quite  different,  and  opera- 
tions that  were  generally  successful  in  the  one  were  frequently  fatal  in 
the  other.  The  subject  is  of  inunense  extent,  requiring  copious  observa- 
tions, Avhich  should  include  toleration  of  child-bearing,  before  any  conclu- 
sions can  be  reached.  It  will  be  seen  presently  that  the  Arab  tribes  who 
practice  trepliining  regard  it  as  almost  without  danger.  It  is  possible  that 
race  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  factor  in  the  calculation  of  the  results  of  tre- 
phining. 

Some  account  must  now  be  given  of  the  probable  manner  of  ^^roceed- 
ing  in  prehistoric  trephining. 

There  are  three  processes  by  which  an  opening  in  the  cranium  can  be 
methodically  produced — by  rotatoiy  movement,  by  cutting,  and  by  scraping. 

The  most  perfect  example  of  the  first-named  method  is  in  the  use  of 
the  modern  trephine,  which  consists  of  a  steel  cylinder  with  saw-teeth  and 
a  central  pin  to  guide  its  first  motion;  the  wdiole  being  worked  by  a  cross- 
handle  like  that  of  a  gimlet.  This  instrument  cuts  out  a  circular  piece  of 
bone,  leaving  a  corresponding  aperture  with  perpendicular  edges  The  first 
form  of  the  trephine  dates  back  to  the  early  days  of  Greek  surgery;   cer- 


12  PKEHiSTOKlC  TKEPUINIiVG. 

tainly  to  more  than  500  years  before  the  Christian  era.  While,  of  course, 
no  instrument  of  this  kind  could  have  been  known  in  the  neohthic  age,  yet 
an  opening  by  terebration  could  have  been  obtained  with  any  pointed  tool. 
M.  Pruniferes  says  that  the  shepherds  of  La  Lozfere  practice  it  to  this  day,  to 
i-elieve  sheep  of  the  "staggers."  The  head  of  the  animal  is  held  between  the 
knees  of  the  operator  who  fixes  the  point  of  his  large  sheath-knife  in  the 
skull,  and  by  rotation  of  the  handle  between  his  hands  a  hole  is  speedily  pro- 
duced. A  similar  practice  prevails  in  Germany,  according  to  Vecken- 
stedt,  the  operation  being  performed  by  the  shepherds  in  order  to  "burst 
a  bladder  in  the  inside  of  the  head  of  the  sheep."  But  all  such  openings 
are  necessarily  round,  Avith  nearly  perpendicular  edges,  while  the  surgical 
trephining  of  prehistoric  times  is  characterized  by  elliptical  openings  and 
by  obliquely  beveled  edges. 

As  regards  the  second  method,  by  cutting,  no  doubt  flint  saws  might 
have  been  employed  for  the  purpose,  but  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
produce  the  even  ellipsis,  with  its  broad  bevel,  in  such  a  manner.  A  polyg- 
onal-shaped aperture  could  only  have  resulted. 

There  remains  the  process  by  scraping.  In  some  of  the  South  Sea 
Islands  trephining  is  practiced  in  this  manner,  and,  indeed,  the  exfoliative 
trepan  of  modern  surgery  provides  for  a  similar  process.  Broca  presented 
to  the  Society  of  Anthropology  of  Paris,  in  1876,  some  skulls  upon  which 
he  had  himself  produced  precise  counterparts  of  neolithic  trephining  by 
scraping  with  a  piece  of  broken  glass."  The  apertui-es  were  elliptical,  the 
long  axis  being  in  the  direction  of  the  to-and  fro  motion  of  the  scraper,  and 
the  edges  were  broadly  beveled.  It  might  seem,  at  first,  that  this  must 
have  been  a  very  slow  and  barbarous  operation,  but  when  it  is  remembered 
that  the  evidence  points  strongly  to  the  belief  that  trephining  was  practiced 
upon  the  very  young,  the  objection,  to  a  great  extent,  disappears.  It  took 
Broca  nearly  an  hour  to  produce  the  opening  in  a  hard  adult  cranium,  but 
in  a  child's  skull  it  required  but  four  minutes  to  attain  the  same  result. 
Again,  in  July,  1877,  Broca  presented  to  the  same  society  the  skull  of  a 
two  months'  old  puppy,  upon  which  he  had  performed  the  operation  of  tre- 
phining with  a  piece  of  flint  from  Cro  Magnon,  and,  although  the  flint  was 

"'Bull.  Soc.  d'anthrop.  tie  Paris,  1876,  2""  s^r.,  xi,  51-i. 


{/.  5.  G.AND  G.  SURVEY. 


rKEIIlSrOKlC  JKEFJl/Nl.VG,  PL  II. 


Cranium  from  Ciboumios.      A-li    cicatrized  edge  from  surgical  trtpbimng.       li-C,  A-D,  post-n.orttm  sections. 
Two-thirds  natural  size.    (Broca.) 


FLETCHKR!  CRANIAL  AMULETS  OR  RONDBLLES.  13 

very  blunt  and  the  bone  twice  as  thick  as  that  of  a  child  of  six  years  of  age, 
the  operation  was  completed  in  eight  minutes;  the  dog  recovered  rapidly 
without  an}'-  symptom  of  fever." 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  amulets  or  rondelles,  in  the  great  majority 
of  instances,  have  been  cut  from  skulls  which  had  undergone,  and  a  long 
time  survived,  surgical  trephining.  Many  of  these  skulls  exhibit  immense 
openings,  unmistakably  of  post-mortem  workmanship,  but  with  a  fragment 
of  the  original  cicatrized  edge  of  the  surgical  operation  remaining.  (See 
Plates  V  and  VI.) 

Many  crania  have  been  discovered  with  the  characteristic  opening  indi- 
cating surgical  trephining  long  since  cicatrized,  but  which  had  been  sub- 
jected to  no  post-mortem  opei-ation.  Why  these  exceptions  should  occur  it 
is  impossible  to  discover.  Possibly  they  were  due  to  the  law  of  demand 
and  supply,  and  the  amulets  not  being  wanted  at  the  time,  the  skulls  were 
left  vmdefaced. 

Quite  a  large  number  of  these  so-called  amulets  or  rondelles  have  been 
discovered,  and  are  to  be  seen  in  the  museums  of  Europe.^'"  Some  of  them 
are  very  regular  in  outline,  and  very  considerable  labor  has  been  bestowed 
upon  them  to  produce  a  polished  surface  and  rounded  edges.  The  rondelle 
discovered  by  Professor  Pruni^res  in  the  interior  of  a  skull,  and  which  first 
drew  attention  to  the  subject,  is  highly  polished  and  beveled  at  the  expense 
of  the  outer  table.  (Plate  I,  fig.  1.)  These  carefully  prepared  amulets  have 
a  very  different  appearance  from  the  fragments  of  cranial  bone  which  are 
found  in  ancient  burial  places  The  latter  are  more  or  less  discolored  and 
eroded  by  the  moisture  and  mineral  ingredients  of  the  soil  in  which  they 
have  rested.  The  rondelles,  on  the  other  hand,  have  a  dry,  hard  surface, 
and  are  almost  of  the  color  of  old  ivory.  This  is  probably  due  to  their 
having  been  worn  as  ornaments  or  amulets  for  a  very  long  time;  perhaps 
by  many  successive  owners.  Other  amulets  are  of  irregular  shape,  being 
elliptical,  trapezoid,  or  triangular.     Some  amulets  have  been  found  with  a 

"  Bull.  Soc.  (I'authrop.  de  Paris,  1877,  2mc  a6r.,  sii,  400;  477. 

i-Prunifeies.  Sur  les  ci'ilncs  performs  et  lea  rondelles  crdniennes  de  I'^poque  ri<5olithiqne.  Assoc, 
fraufaise  pour  I'avauceiueut  des  sciences.     Compte  rendu,  S""  sess.,  Lille  (1874),  Paris,  1675,  597-637. 

.     La  cremation  dans  les  dolmens  de  La  Lozfere.     Nouvelles  rondelles  cr^niennes.     Dolmens  de 

la  Maicouifero  et  tombelle  de  Boujoussac.     Ibid.,  G"""  sees.,  Le  Havre  (1877),  Paris,  1878,  675. 


14  PEEHIRTORIO  TEEPHININd. 

groove  cut  around  them,  apparently  for  ihe  purpose  of  suspending  them  from 
the  neck.     (Plate  I,  Fig.  6.) 

It  now  remains  to  give  some  account  of  Broca's  theory  as  to  the  pur- 
pose of  this  surgical  and  post-mortem  trephining.  He  rejected  the  theory 
that  the  surgical  operation  in  early  life  was  performed  on  account  of  fracture 
or  disease  of  the  bone,  nothing  whatever  in  the  relics  seeming  to  indicate 
such  conditions.  He  Avas,  at  one  time,  disposed  to  think  that  the  operation 
had  a  religious  or  superstitious  motive,  and  that  it  indicated  initiation  into 
some  sacred  order;  but  the  extent  of  the  discoveries  of  trephined  skulls, 
and  the  fact  that  women  as  well  as  men  were  subjected  to  the  operation, 
obliged  him  to  give  up  that  view.  His  conclusion  was  that,  in  all  probability, 
the  operation  was  performed  as  a  cure  for  convulsions,  simple  or  epileptic. 

Trephining  as  a  curative  treatment  for  epilepsy  has  been  practiced  some- 
what extensively  in  our  own  day,  but  it  is  now  entirely  abandoned,  except 
in  cases  of  traumatic  epilejDsy,  when  the  manifestation  of  the  disorder  has 
been  coincident  with  an  injury  to  the  skull.  In  such  cases,  removal  of  de- 
pressed fragments  of  bone  is  cleai'ly  indicated,  and  has,  in  many  instances, 
been  followed  by  entire  disappearance  of  the  epileptic  fits. 

In  the  curious  storehouse  of  absurdities  which  our  ancient  Materia 
Medica  exhibits,  powdered  bone  from  the  human  skull,  as  well  as  powdered 
mummy,  figure  as  unfailing  remedies  for  epilepsy.  Sometimes  the  bone 
was  to  be  calcined,  and  the  supplementary  ossicles  of  the  skull,  known  as 
ossa  Wormiana,  were  in  high  repute  for  this  purpose.  In  old  works  the 
title  of  OS  antiepilecticum  was  an  ordinary  name  for  a  Wormian  bone. 

For  many  ages  epileptics  wei"e  believed  to  be  possessed  of  devils  and 
to  be  fit  subjects  for  exorcism.  When,  in  obedience  to  spell  or  potent  com- 
mand, the  evil  spirit  left  the  sufferer,  or,  in  other  words,  when  the  fit  was 
over,  it  was  through  the  open  mouth  that  the  exit  was  made.  There  is  a 
cut  in  a  curious  old  German  block-book  representing  the  well-known  inci- 
dent of  the  epileptic  of  the  New  Testament.  '  The  mouth  of  the  man  is 
painfully  distended,  and  the  horned  head  of  a  small  imp  is  visible  emerging 
from  his  throat.  The  herd  of  swine,  unconscious  of  the  impending  catas- 
trophe, are  watching  the  proceeduig.  It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  how 
appropriate  it  would  appear  to  make  an  opening  in  the  skull  for  the  escape 


FLETCHEK]  BELIEF  IN  FLTTURE  EXISTENCE  INFERRED.  15 

of  an  evil  spirit  which  could  not  be  dislodged  by  ordinary  exorcism.'^  It  is 
for  tliis  purpose,  among-  others,  that  trephining  is  practiced  to  this  day  among 
the  South  Sea  Islanders  and  by  some  of  the  Arab  tribes  of  Algeria. 

From  these  and  similar  considerations  Broca  was  led  to  believe  that 
prehistoric  trephining  was  practiced  for  the  relief  of  convulsions  in  infancy 
or  childhood,  and  that  a  fragment  of  the  skull  of  a  person  who  had  under- 
gone this  operation  was  worn  a,s  a  preventive  of  the  like  common  and 
alarming  disorder.  Hence  the  care  with  wliich  a  portion,  at  least,  of  the 
cicatrized  border  was  preserved  in  the  piece  cut  out  to  form  the  amulet. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  primitive  people  would  not  be  likely 
to  discern  any  difference,  except  of  degree,  between  the  ordinary  convul- 
sions of  childhood  and  epileptic  tits.  The  former,  though  alarming  in 
appearance,  are  by  no  means  generall}'  dangei'ous,  and  we  can  easily  under- 
stand that  the  surgical  operation  would,  in  such  cases,  be  credited  with  the 
cure.  It  is  thought,  even  in  our  own  enlightened  day,  that  the  post  quod 
is  occasionally  taken  for  the  propter  quod,  in  surgical  as  well  as  medical 
therapeutics. 

So  far,  it  may  be  said  that  Broca  made  a  fair  case  in  favor  of  his  theory, 
but  he  carried  his  theorizing  still  further.  He  was  of  opinion  that  these  tre  • 
phined  skulls  and  corresponding  amulets  indicated  that  a  belief  in  a  future 
existence  obtained  among  these  primitive  races.  His  argument  is  based 
upon  the  discovery  of  amulets  in  the  interior  of  trephined  crania.  "  Why," 
he  asks,  "was  this  precious  relic  placed  inside  the  skull  at  burial?  Was  it 
not  a  talisman  to  preserve  the  defunct,  in  a  future  existence,  against  the 
evil  spirits  that  had  afflicted  him  in  early  life?  If  so,  does  it  not  show  that 
a  future  existence  was  anticipated?" 

When  it  is  remembered  that  only  three  cases  have  been  observed  in 


'■■^  A  curious  custom  is  related  by  Miss  A.  W.  Buckland,  which  may  possibly  be  due  to  some  legend- 
ary trace  of  the  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  trephining  as  a  remedy  for  iits.  She  observed  at  Cannes,  in 
the  south  of  France,  a  number  of  dogs  with  oblong  patches  of  red  leather  stuck  on  their  heads,  and 
upon  inquiry  was  informed  that  these  dogs  were  svhject  to  fits,  and  that  the  red  leather  was  worn  as  a 
means  of  prevention.     Jour.  Anthrop.  Inst.  London,  1861,  xi,  16. 

This  part  of  the  subject  must  not  be  dismissed  without  an  allusion  to  the  story  of  the  birth  of 
Athene,  so  inimitably  told  by  Lucian.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Zeus,  suffering  from  intolerable  pain 
ill  the  head,  called  upon  Hephsestus  to  split  open  his  head  with  an  axe.  The  latter  unwillingly  obeyed, 
when  from  the  fractured  opening  sprang  out  the  Goddess  of  Wisdom,  clad  in  bright  armor  and  with 
spear  in  hand.     This  is  probably  the  first  recorded  instance  of  historic  trephining. 


](i  PREHISTOEIO  TREPHININCt. 

which  rondelles  were  discovered  in  the  interior  of  sknlls,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  this  amiable  theory  rests  upon  a  very  slender  foundation.  It 
seems  much  moi-e  probable  that  their  presence  in  the  locality  in  which  they 
were  found  was  due  to  accidental  causes,  such  as  the  pressure  of  roots,  or 
the  movements  of  worms.  Mortillet  and  Pruniferes  both  mention  finding 
small  bones  of  the  hand  or  foot  inside  of  crania. 

As  regards  the  extent  and  range  of  the  relics  indicating  this  singular 
custom,  it  may  be  said  that,  in  France,  the  department  of  La  Lozere  has 
produced  the  greatest  number.  This,  however,  is  probably  due  to  the  vig- 
orous researches  of  Pruniferes  and  others  in  that  region.  Throughout  the 
south  and  southeast  of  France  discoveries  of  trephined  skulls  continue  to 
be  made.  Broca  states  that  the  custom  certainly  prevailed  throughout  the 
entire  neolithic  or  polished  stone  period,  as  trephined  skulls  have  been 
found  in  the  cavern  of  LTIomme-Mort,  in  La  Lozere,  which  belongs  to  the 
earliest  part  of  that  age,  and  in  the  grottoes  of  Baye,  belonging  to  its  close. 
While  it  is  not  surprising  that  no  trace  of  the  custom  should  have  been 
discovered  in  the  relics  of  the  palaeolithic  or  mesolithic  ages,  it  is  certainly 
remarkable  that  it  should  have  disappeared  with  the  neolithic  age  so  com- 
pletely. It  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  no  authentic  instance  of  the 
discovery  of  a  trephined  skull  from  the  bronze  period  is  on  record  Doubt- 
less the  rapidly  increasing  custom  of  incineration  of  bodies  must  be  regarded 
as  a  principal  cause.  M.  de  Baye  has  found  cranial  amulets  in  tombs  of  a 
later  epoch,  and  infers  that  the  custom  of  trephining  still  prevailed."  This 
does  not,  however,  follow,  as  the  amulets  may  have  been  ^oreserved  through 
many  generations. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  International  Congress  of  Prehistoric  Anthro- 
pology held  at  Brussels,  in  1872,  Dr.  G.  A.  Lagneau  read  a  paper  entitled, 
"Sur  les  cranes  de  Furfooz";  and  in  the  discussion  whicli  followed  the  meas- 
urements of  some  Esthonian  crania  were  given  by  M.  Quatrefages.  In  the 
plate'^  illustrating  the  latter,  one  skull  has  an  aperture  about  the  center 
of  the  coronal  suture  which  strikingly  resembles  the  beveled  edges  pro- 

"BuU.  Soc.  d'anthrop.  de  Paris,  1876,  2"'=  s^r.,  xi,  121. 

'*  Congrfes  iutemational  d'anthropologie  et  d'arcli^ologie  prdhistoriques.  Compte  rendu,  6"°  ses- 
sion, temie  ii  Bruxelles  en  1872,  Bruxelles,  1873,  oaS. 


FLCTciiEu.]  SPECIMENS  DISCOVERED  IN  FRANCE.  17 

dnced  by  trephining.  No  allusion  was  made  to  it,  the  subject  at  that  time 
not  having  been  brought  to  light. 

As  early  as  1875  a  trephined  skull  was  found  in  a  tumulus  at  Bougon, 
near  Niort,  in  the  south  of  France,  which  was  described  by  M.  Babert  de 
Juill(^.  In  his  specimen,  the  openings  had  been  made  near  the  top  of  the 
skull,  and  the  edges  were  perfectly  cicatrized.^" 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  held 
at  Nantes,  M.  Chauvet  presented  a  cranial  amulet  found  in  a  tumulus  in  tlie 
forest  of  Boixe." 

In  thetertre  Gutirin,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Seine,  not  far  from  Paris, 
M.  Chouquet  found  the  skull  of  an  old  man,  with  a  trephined  aperture  which 
had  been  long  completely  cicatrized.'^  M.  Chouquet  also  discovered  some 
specimens  of  both  surgical  and  posthumous  trephining  in  a  mound,  near 
Ecuelles,  which  contained  incinerated  bones.  He  was  disposed  to  think 
that  these  relics  belonged  to  the  bronze  age." 

In  1877  M.  Pruniferes  presented  to  the  Paris  society  two  admirable 
specimens,  in  one  of  which  the  aperture,  thoroughly  cicatrized,  was  in  the 
occipital  bone,  a  httle  to  the  right  of  the  median  line — an  unusual  position.^" 

M.  Gassies  discovered  a  trephined  skull  at  Entre  Roche,  near  Bordeaux, 
in  a  burial  place  which  he  thought  to  be  palaeolithic.  Further  researches, 
however,  by  M.  Chauvet,  assigned  it  to  the  neolithic  period,  a  polished  stone 
axe  and  similar  relics  having  been  discovered  there.^^  Some  other  doubtful 
cases  of  trephined  skulls  fi'om  the  palaeolithic  period  have  been  announced, 
but  no  well-authenticated  specimens  have  been  discovered  which  are  of 
earlier  date  than  the  polished  stone  age. 

An  interesting  specimen  was  presented  to  the  Paris  society,  in  1878, 
by  M.  Gu^gan.^^     It  was  found  in  a  dolmen  at  Etang-la-Ville,  and  exhibited 

'^Rapport  de  la  commission  des  tnmnli  de  Bougon,  suivi  d'une  dtudo  sur  la  triSpanation  pr^bisto- 
rique,  ct  en  particulier  sur  le  crdne  tr6pan6  que  poss6de  la  mus^e  de  Niort.  Par  Babert  de  Juilld.  Niort, 
1875.     8°. 

"Assoc,  frangaise  pour  I'avancement  des  sciences.  Compte  rendu  de  la  4™"  sess.,  Nantes,  1875, 
Paris,  1876,  854. 

18 Bull.  Soc.  d'anthrop.  de  Paris,  1877,  2'»«  B^r.,  xii,  13-16. 

19/fcid.,  1876,  2™=  s6t.,  xi,  279. 

™  Ibid.,  551. 

"Jfriff.,  1877,  2""=  b6t.,  xii,  12. 

"Ibid.,  1878,  3">«s(5r.,  i,  198. 

2  P   T 


18  PKEJIlSTOiaC  TREPHINING. 

incomplete  trephining  by  rachifje,  or  scraping.  This  modification  of  the 
process  of  trepliining  consisted  in  reinoving  the  outer  table  of  the  skull  by 
scraping,  leaving  the  inner  or  vitreous  table  intact.  Altogether  some  twenty 
specimens  of  the  kind  have  been  collected.  What  the  object  was  of  this 
incomplete  operation  it  is  difficult  to  divine.  Possibly  the  malady  was 
relieved  and  the  further  process  rendered  unnecessary. 

In  1603  there  was  published  in  Lyons  a  book  whicli  is  now  excessively 
rare.  Its  title  was:  Traicte  de  I't'pilepsie,  maladie  vulgairement  appelee  au 
pays  de  Provence,  la  goutette  aux  petits  enfants.  Par  Jehan  Taxil.  8°. 
The  writer  evidently  confounded  convulsions  with  epilepsy,  the  latter  disease 
not  attacking  little  children,  rarely,  indeed,  developing  itself  before  the  tenth 
year.  The  remedy  he  prescribes  is  scraping  away  a  portion  of  the  outer 
table  of  the  skull.  Sometimes  the  inner  table,  also,  was  removed  by  the 
exfoliative  trepan.  This  reproduction  of  a  prehistoric  usage  may  perhaps 
be  cited  as  a  curious  instance  of  atavism  in  surgery. 

In  1878  M.  Pruniferes  made  some  extensive  researches  in  the  caverns 
of  Beaumes-Chaudes  (La  Lozere),  and  found  more  than  sixty  specimens  of 
trephined  skulls  and  cranial  amulets.  In  three  of  these  there  was  evidence 
of  the  operation  having  been  twice  performed  on  the  same  subject.-'' 

In  1880  M.  Man voisin  found  in  some  artificial  grottoes  near  Baye  sev- 
eral crania  of  the  neolithic  age,  of  which  two  exhibited  cicatrized  openings 
Upon  one  of  them  post-mortem  sections  had  been  made  in  the  usual  manner.^* 

A  recent  and  very  interesting  contribution  to  bur  knowledge  of  the 
subject  is  to  be  found  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Paiis  Society  of  Anthro- 
pology by  M.  Parrot.-'^  It  describes  a  cranium  found  in  a  grotto  of  the  neo- 
lithic period  at  Bray-sur-yeine  (Marne).  The  frontal  and  both  parietal 
bones  exhibit  the  consequences  of  extensive  disease.  Depressions  exist,  sui  h 
as  would  be  produced,  M.  Parrot  says,  by  pressing  the  thumb  into  soft 
putty.  On  the  left  parietal  a  small  island  of  undiseased  bone  stands  up  in 
the  center  of  the  depressed  portion,  forming  a  strong  contrast.     The  bone 

■-^Bull.  Soc.  a'antbrop.  tic  Paris,  1878,  S""^  s6r.,  i,  '211. 

■''*nid.,  1830,  S""  s(5r.,  iii,  10. 

=■■^01^110  trouv(S  dans  uiie  grotto  de  I'djwqnc  de  la  i)ifrre  i)oIip  a  Br.ny-sur-Sfir.e  (M.iriie),  avec  imo 
qiiarantaine  de  sqiielettes,  baebes  polic.s,  poiufons  en  os,  collier.s  et  oruements  eu  cocpiilles.  lOUl.,  1881, 
3'"=s6r.,  iv,  104-108. 


FiKTcnrio  TREPHINING  FOR  DISEASE  OF  BONE.  19 

Avliich  has  been  snlyected  to  disease  is  excessively  thin,  and  was  bi-oken  in 
two  or  three  places  in  the  process  of  extraction  No  trace  was  left  of  the 
coronal  suture,  the  disease  having  entirely  obliterated  it.  But  the  most 
interesting  feature  was  the  evidence  that  surgical  trephining  had  been  per- 
formed, apparently  for  the  relief  of  the  disease.  The  opening  made  involved 
the  frontal  and  left  parietal  bones;  it  was  of  the  usual  oval  shape,  but  its 
size  could  not  be  exactly  ascertained,  as  the  posterior  portion  of  it  was  lost 
in  a  large,  irregular  hole,  produced,  no  doubt,  when  the  skull  was  removed 
from  the  earth.  The  trephining  was  performed  partly  on  sound  and  partly 
on  the  diseased  bone,  and  the  edges  of  the  aperture  (what  remains  of  them) 
are  perfectly  cicatrized,  so  that  it  is  evident  that  the  patient  long  survived 
the  operation.  It  cannot  be  held  that  the  disease  was  the  result  of  the  opera- 
tion. In  the  large  number  of  trephined  skulls  which  have  been  examined 
there  is  no  instance  of  disease  of  the  bone,  and  in  this  particular  case,  as 
M.  Parrot  observes,  if  the  disease  had  resulted  from  the  operation  it  would 
have  spread  all  ai'ound  the  opening,  which  is  not  the  case,  as  what  remains 
of  the  aperture  is  in  sound  bone. 

The  disease,  which  was  probably  an  exfoliative  osteitis  or  inflammation 
of  the  bone,  was,  M.  Pari-ot  thinks,  of  traumatic  origin.  There  is  a  depres- 
sion on  the  frontal  bone  which  may  have  been  caused  by  a  hatchet-stroke. 
Whether  the  operation  was  performed  to  arrest  the  disease,  or  to  remove 
some  of  its  symptoms,  is,  of  course,  a  matter  of  conjecture;  but  as  the  dis- 
eased bone  and  the  edges  of  the  aperture  had  all  become  firmly  cicati-ized, 
it  is  certain  that  the  patient  lived  for  some  years  after. 

M.  Parrot  dwells  upon  the  importance  of  this  discovery  as  proving  that 
trephining  was  employed  as  a  therapeutic  measure  in  disease,  and  not  only 
for  the  relief  of  imaginary  causes  of  evil,  as  in  convulsions  or  epilepsy. 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  the  subjective  symptoms  attending  such  exten- 
sive disease  of  the  cranium  may  have  required  the  usual  remedy  for  eviction 
of  the  supposed  malignant  spirit. 

In  Germany  a  few  examples  have  been  met  with  of  prehistoric  trephin- 
ing. Prof  H.  Wankel  discovered  in  the  grotto  of  Bytchiskala,  in  Bohemia, 
the  skeleton  of  a  girl  of  about  twelve  years  of  age.  The  skull  bore  unmis- 
takable evidence  of  surgical  trephining  having  been  performed  during  life. 


20  PREHISTOKIC  TRErniNIN(r. 

'J'he  aperture  was  on  the  riglit  side  of  the  frontal  bone,  was  nearly  circular 
in  shape,  and  about  3  centimeters  in  diameter.  The  inner  table  of  the  skull 
exhibited  no  trace  whatever  of  inflammatory  process,  such  as  would  inevi- 
tably have  accompanied  caries  or  exostosis  of  the  bone.  At  great  length 
Professor  Wankel  examines  every  possible  disease  or  injury  of  the  bone 
which  might  be  supposed  to  account  for  the  opening,  and  rejects  them  all. 
From  this  argument  by  exclusion  he  arrives  at  a  very  firm  belief  that  the 
case  was  one  of  surgical  trephining,  precisely  analogous  to  those  observed 
in  the  crania  of  La  Lozfere.'" 

About  the  same  time  Dr.  B.  Dudik  sent  a  communication  to  the  Berlin 
Ethnological  Society,  announcing  his  discovery  of  many  trephined  skulls 
in  the  ossuarium,  or  Beinhaus,  at  Sedlec  in  Bohemia."^  In  this  famous  bone- 
heap  there  are  pyramids  of  skulls  and  thousands  of  human  bones.  Tradi- 
tion states  that  they  came  from  the  old  churchyard  of  Sedlec,  the  soil  of 
which,  having  been  made  sacred  by  admixture  with  earth  brought  from  Geth- 
semane,  had  the  property  of  rapidly  decaying  the  flesh  and  of  preserving  the 
bones  with  a  whiteness  as  of  alabaster.  The  structure  which  now  incloses 
the  relics  was  erected  in  1709,  but  allusions  to  the  Sedlec  bones  are  to  be 
found  in  very  early  chronicles.  A  local  legend  relates  that  the  perforated 
skulls  (of  which  there  are  a  great  many)  once  belonged  to  the  Cistercian  and 
Carthusian  monks  who  were  killed  when  the  Hussites,  under  Ziska,  captured 
the  convent  of  Sedlec  in  1421.  Dr.  Dudik  thinks  that  the  punctures  are 
too  even  and  too  free  from  fracture  to  have  been  made  by  the  spiked  clubs 
with  which  Ziska's  followers  were  armed.  This  objection  is  probably  not 
well-founded.  The  writer  remembers  examining  a  heap  of  skulls  of  horses 
in  a  knacker's  yard,  the  animals  having  been  destroyed  with  a  pole-axe,  a 
weapon  very  similar  to  a  spiked  club,  and  the  punctures  were,  in  almost  all 
instances,  round  with  sharp  edges  and  not  accompanied  by  fracture.  It 
seems  jM-obable  that  these  bones  have  accumulated  through  a  very  long 
period  of  time,  but  that  they  date  principally  from  the  year  1318,  when 
a  pestilence  ravaged  Bohemia  and  thirty  thousand  persons  were  buried  in 
Sedlec  alone. 

5"  Wankel  (H. ).  Eiii  priihistorischer  Schadel  mit  eiiier  Lalbgebeilten  Wnnde  auf  dor  Stlrne  hiichst- 
w.ahrscUeiiilicli  tlnrch  Trcpauation  entstaudcu.     Mitlb.  d.  aiithrop.  Gescllscli.  in  Wien,  1878,  vii,  86-95. 

"Dudik  (1$.).  Uebor  tropanirto  Cranien  im  Itcinliansi'  zii  Scdlop.  Ztschr.  f.  Etlin.,  Bcrl.,  1878,  x, 
227-23,''). 


I'l.KTClIEU. 


THE  SEDLEC  BEINHAUS.  21 


Dr.  Dudik  describes  at  some  length  the  appearance  of  the  openings  in 
the  crania  which  he  examined,  bnt  it  would  seem  from  his  description  that, 
in  most  instances,  posthnmous  trephining  alone  had  been  practiced.  This, 
of  conrse,  proves  nothing.  In  a  few  cases  he  describes  what  seems  like 
cicatrization  of  the  edges 

A  more  competent  observer,  however,  followed  in  his  footsteps.  Pro- 
fessor Wankel  visited  Sedlec  in  order  to  verify  the  observations  of  Dr.  Dudik, 
and  examined  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  crania  which  had  been  submitted 
to  the  latter.-^  Wankel  was  of  opinion  that,  in  every  Instance,  the  perfora- 
tions were  the  result  of  wounds  not -Immediately  fatal.  In  two  instances  he 
agreed  with  Dr.  Dudik  that  there  were  unmistakable  marks  of  posthumous 
trephining.  Professor  Wankel  finishes  his  article  by  a  description  of  his  visit 
to  Prague,  in  the  museum  of  which  city  he  found  two  skulls  from  Bilin,  In 
Bohemia,  exhibiting'  evidence  of  prehistoric  trephining.  One,  a  dolico- 
cephallc  skull,  presented  an  orltice  60  millimeters  by  40,  of  elliptic  shape, 
and  situated  in  the  center  of  the  right  parietal  bone.  The  edges  were 
perfectly  cicatrized,  and  exhibited  the  ivory-like  surface  charactei'istic  of 
long-healed  trephining.  In  the  other,  a  mesocephalic  skull,  the  aperture 
was  round  and  about  40  millimeters  in  diameter.  Professor  Wankel  was 
of  opinion  that  these  skulls  exhibited  perfect  specimens  of  prehistoric  sur- 
gical trephining,  and  goes  on  to  observe  that,  even  to  the  eye  of  a  layman, 
the  diflPereuce  between  the  holes  in  these .  skulls  and  tliose  in  the  crania  of 
the  Sedlec  ossuarium  was  most  marked. 

A  notice  of  these  two  interesting  specimens  was  sent  to  the  Paris 
society  by  M.  Ingoald  Cludset  two  years  before."" 

Professor  Virchow  has  contributed  some  observations  illustrative  of 
the  subject.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Berlin  Anthropological  Society,  in  1879, 
he  described  a  skull  from  a  neolithic  burial  mound,  in  which  the  char- 
acteristic marks  of  cicatrization  were  observed  in  an  opening  in  the  right 
parietal  bone.  At  a  later  meeting  he  also  reported  some  discoveries  made 
by  General  von  Erckert  in  a  Cujavian  grave  near  Zlemcin,  in  Poland. 
Among  them  was  a  bone  disk,  or  rondelle,  bearing  a  great  resemblance  to 

^Wankel  (11.).  Ucber  <lio  angcblich  trepauirteii  Cranicu  dis  BeiuLauses  zu  Sedlec  iu  Biilimeu. 
JlittU.  il.  anthrop.  Gesellscb.  iu  Wien,  1879,  viii,  352-360. 

-'Bull.  Soc.  d'autbrop.  do  Pans,  1877,  S™"  s6i.,  xii,  10. 


22  l'KKU18TOKl(J  TllEPlimiNG. 

tliose  descrilxid  by  Broca.^"  Dr.  L.  Schneider  presented  to  the  same  society 
a  similar  example  from  the  skulls  of  Strupcic,  Bohemia.^' 

In  1875  an  article  was  published  by  Dr.  R.  Wiedersheim,  entitled, 
"Ueber  den  Miidelhofener  Schadelfund  in  Unterfranken."  This  appeared 
before  attention  had  been  di'awn  to  the  subject  of  prehistoric  trephining, 
but  ill  one  of  the  plates  is  a  cranium  with  an  opening  in  the  left  parietal 
bone,  presenting  a  remarkably  strong  resemblance  to  the  accepted  form  of 
surgical  operation.^- 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Italian  Society  of  Anthropology,  held  in  1878,  Pro- 
fessor Mantegazza  exhibited  a  papier-mache  model  of  a  Russian  skull  taken 
from  a  tumulus  at  Bogdanoff,  which  presented  an  example  of  surgical  tre- 
phining undoubtedly  performed  during  life.  Posteriorly  was  a  second 
aperture  of  post-mortem  origin.'^ 

]\[.  Nicolucci  discovered  in  a  tuiiiulus  in  Ital^'  a  rondelle  from  the 
occipital  bone,  highly  polished  on  both  sides,  but  no  trephined  skulls  Jiave 
as  yet  been  discovered  in  that  countr}'. 

In  Denmark  a  trephined  skull  was  found  in  a  dolmen  at  ]3orreby,  and 
another  was  discovered  by  M.  Engelhardt,  in  a  dolmen  of  the  stone  age,  at 
Noes,  in  the  island  of  Falster.^* 

Broca  received  from  General  Faidherbe  some  casts  of  skulls  from 
Roknia,  Algeria,  one  of  which  proved  to  be  an  excellent  example  of  surgi- 
cal trephining.  Since  his  death  another  specimen  has  been  received  from 
Roknia,  which  is  deposited  in  the  Musee  Broca.  In  this  skull  the  opening — 
of  the  usual  beveled,  elliptical  shape,  and  13  millimeters  in  diameter — is 
above  the  left  external  orbital  apophysis.  There  is  no  evidence  of  repair  on 
the  edges,  so  that  it  would  seem  that  the  operation  was  fatal;  but  as  the 
entire  inner  table  of  the  skull  has  disappeared,  from  erosion,  M.  Le  Baron 
suggests  that  the  cicatrized  edges  may  have  met  with  a  similar  fate.^'' 

So  far  no  discoveries  of  trephined  crania  have  been  made  in  Great  Britain ; 

'"Ueber  trepauiito  Schiidel  von  Giebiclienstein.     Verliandl.  der  Berliner  GesellscL.  fiir  Anthroi)., 

Berlin,  1879.  G4-67.  .  Knochensclieibe  aus  eiuem  Schiidel,  welche  au  eiu  trepauirtes  Stiick  erin- 

nert.     fbid.,  431). 

^' Ueber  die  HradiSte  von  Stradonice  iind  die  Schiidel  von  Strupcic  (Bohmen).   Ibid.,  23'J. 

'- Archiv  fiir  Anthrop.,  Braunschweig,  1875-76,  viii,  225-236.     (Plate  XV,  ligs.  1  and  2.) 

'^Arehivio  per  1'  antropologia,  etc.,  Milano,  1878,  viii,  527. 

"de  Nadaillac.     Les  trepanations  pri5historii|ues.     Paris,  1871).     8^,  p.  7. 

•■''Ldsions  osseuses,  etc.,  67. 


Fi.KTCHEi!  1  CASE  OF  UNOOMPLETEU  TIIEPIIINING.  23 

but  it  may  be  mentioned,  as  ilhistrating  the  growth  of  interest  in  the  subject, 
that  in  France  counterfeit  rondelles  have  recently  been  put  upon  the  market. 

In  the  splendid  prehistoric  gallery  of  the  geological  section  of  the 
museum  at  Lisbon  is  a  cranium  quite  unique  of  its  kind.^'^  It  presents  evi- 
dence of  an  uncompleted  operation  of  trephining  upon  the  left  parietal  bone. 
The  groove,  made  by  some  cutting  or  sawing  instrument,  has  nearly  reached 
the  internal  table,  very  clearly  defining  the  rondelle,  which  measures  G  cen- 
timeters by  2,  and  from  the  numerous  scratches  on  the  surrounding  bone  it 
is  evident  that  the  instrument  frequently  slipped  from  the  groove  in  the  pro- 
cess. Why  the  piece  was  not  entirely  detached  it  is  useless  to  surmise.  M.  de 
Mortillet  was  of  opinion  that  the  discovery  rather  tended  to  disprove  Broca's 
theory  that  the  operation  was  performed  by  scraping  until  a  hole  was  pro- 
duced. It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  there  is  no  evidence  to  prove 
that  the  operation  was  performed  during  life  in  the  case  in  question.  It  is 
more  likely  that  it  was  an  attempted  post-mortem  trephining;  but  even 
if  it  were  not,  its  occurrence  would  only  strengthen  the  views  expi-essed 
elsewhere  in  this  paper,  that  though  prehistoric  trephining  was  probably 
performed  by  scraping  in  the  young  subject,  and  that  examples  of  this 
method  form  the  great  majority  of  specimens  in  our  museums,  yet  that  it  is 
probable,  from  analogy,  that  wJien  performed  on  the  adult  it  was  by  saw- 
ing, cutting,  or  by  a  series  of  punctures. 

The  cranium  in  question  was  found  in  the  grotto  of  Casa  da  Mouva  at 
Peniche,  which  contains  the  remains  of  one  hundred  and  forty  persons  of 
the  neolithic  period. 

In  America  nothing  has  been  discovered  that  can  be  said  to  belong  to 
prehistoric  trephining,  except  the  famous  Inca  skull  brought  by  Mr.  Squier 
from  Peru,  and  presented  by  him  to  the  Paris  Society  of  Anthropology. 
This  relic,  which  consists  of  the  face  and  frontal  bone,  is  stated  by  Mr. 
Squier  to  have  been  taken  from  an  Inca  cemetery  in  the  valley  of  Yucay, 
within  one  mile  of  the  "Baths  of  tlie  Incas.'"' 

^''Notea  siir  I'arch^ologio  pr^historique  en  Portugal,  par  Km.  Cartailhac.  Bull.  Soc.  (Vauthrop. 
do  Paris,  IbSl,  S™"  ser.,  iv,  '281-307.— Tr^panatiou  pr<§bistoii(|ue,  par  A.  de  Mortillet.  IMd.,  188'2,  3'"" 
K<^r.,  V,  143-14G. 

='Peru.  lucidcnts  of  travel  and  exploration  in  the  land  of  tbiilnoas.  I5y  E.  George  S<iuier.  New 
Yolk,  1877.  8'^,  p.  456;  Aiipendix,  ]>.  577.  It  is  also  described  in  lliat  singularly  nnicjne  publication,  vol. 
i,  No.  1  (all  ever  published),  of  the  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute  of  New  York  for  1871-'7;i. 


24  riiEUJSTOiuo  tkepuining. 

The  drawing  (Plate  VII)  shows  how  entirely  the  operation  in  this  case 
differs  from  the  elliptic  openings  of  the  French  crania.  The  round  white 
.spot  indie-ates  where  tlie  periosteiun  had  been  removed  by  tlie  operator;  and 
this  was  done,  Broca  thought,  about  eight  or  ten  days  before  death.  The 
famous  surgeon,  Nt'laton,  who  also  examined  the  bone,  suggested  fifteen 
days.^^  As  no  evidence  of  fractare  was  visible,  the  French  experts  were  of 
opinion  that  the  operation  was  performed  to  evacuate  fluid  in  the  cavity, 
but  Dr.  J.  P.  Nott,  of  Mobile,  oifered  the  very  plausible  suggestion  that  a 
punctured  wound,  such  as  the  known  weapons  of  the  Peruvians  might 
inflict,  might  have  necessitated  the  operation.  The  incisions  appear  to  have 
been  performed  with  a  cutting  instrument,  something  like  an  engraver's 
hiirhi,  and  not  with  a  saw. 

In  1876,  Mr.  Henry  Gilman,  then  of  Detroit,  published  a  description 
of  ten  to  fifteen  skulls  obtained  from  mounds  on  Sable  River,  Lake  Huron, 
and  two  fragments  from  Great  ]\Iound,  River  Rouge, 
Michigan.^^  All  of  these  skulls  presented  a  circu- 
lar perforation  at  the  vertex,  "  evidently  made," 
he  says,  "  by  boring  with  a  rude,  probably  stone, 
instrument,  varying  in  size,  in  some  instances  hav- 
ing a  diameter  of  one-third  of  an  inch;  in  others, 
of  one-half  of  an  inch,  and  flaring  at   llie    surface" 

At  the  Detroit  meetino-  of  the  American  Associa- 

ric.    1.- Artilic  niUy     iR-rforatofl      _  ^^ 

skull  from  mound  at  sabioKiver  tlou   for    tlic    Advancement  of   Science,   Mr.  Gilman 

(Lake  nuroD),  ilichijian ;  one- 

quarter  size.  read  a  more   elaborate  paper  on  the    same    subject,*" 

and,  at  the  twenty-sixth  meeting  of  the  society,  this  was  followed  by 
another  paper,  entitled,  "Additional  facts  concerning  artificial  perforation 
of  the  cranium  in  ancient  mounds  in  Michigan.""  Mr.  Gilman  was  ver}- 
positive  that  the  perforations  were  not  analogous  to  the  prehistoric  trei)hining 
observed  in  France.  They  were  merely  holes  l)ored  after  death,  and  it  was 
suggested  by  Professor  Mason  that,  like  the  Dyaks  of  Borneo,  the  natives 

3»Bull.  Soc.  (I'antbrop.  de  Paris,  1867,  2"'=  sdr.,  ii,  403. 

"■'Ainer.  Naturalist,  Salem,  1875,  ix,  473. 

■"•I'roc.  Am.  Ass.  Adv.  Scicuce,  24tli  meeting,  at  Detroit,  1875,  Salem,  187li,  31G-331. 

■";/))■(/.,  '2(ltli  meetiiif;,  at  NasUville,  1877,  Salem,  187H,  335-33;». 


V.  S.  G.  AND  G.  SUKfEV 


t'REHISTOKIC  TREfHINJNC,  Fl.  I'll, 


The  Inca  ekull  brought  by  Mr.  Squier  from  Pern, 
(Photographed  at  Army  Med.  Museum.) 


d^jrd--.'^  i^^-i'-r  /J' 


FLETcuER.i  rEUFOUATED  AMEKICAN  CRANIA.  25 

might  have  made  tlie  punctures  for  the  convenience  of  stringing  the  skulls. 
This  would  explain  why  the  hole  was  invariably  at  a  point  opposite  to  the 
foramen  magnum.  A  discovery  of  .Mi'-  Grilman's,  however,  seems  to  throw 
some  doubt  upon  this  theory.  He  found,  in  a  mound  at  Devil  River,  Micli- 
igan,  the  remains  of  a  person,  evidently  of  rank,  lying  upon  his  back,  but 
with  the  characteristic  perforation  in  his  skull. 

Mr.  W.  C.  Holljrook,  in  an  account  of  his  examination  of  some  Indian 
mounds  on  Rock  River,  at  Sterling,  111.,  says : 

Inside  this  dolmen  I  found  the  remains  of  eight  human  skeletons.  .  .  .  One  of  the  skulls  pre- 
sented a  circular  openiug  about  the  size  of  a  silver  dime.  This  perforation  Lad  been  made  during  life, 
for  the  edges  had  commenced  to  cicatrize.''^ 

It  is  not  stated  in  what  part  of  the  skull  the  opening  was  found,  nor 
whether  any  evidences  of  fracture  or  other  injury  existed,  so  that,  as  it 
stands,  the  case  cannot  be  thought  to  be  one  of  trephining,  but  rather  one 
of  a  partly  healed  wound. 

Before  concluding  this  review  of  the  evidence  so  far  accumulated  ujDon 
the  subject,  some  account  must  be  given  of  the  method  of  trephining  prac- 
ticed in  our  own  day  by  some  semi-barbarous  tribes,  with  the  purpose  of 
seeing  whether  it  throws  any  light  on  the  prehistoric  operation. 

In  the  djebel  Aourtis  (Mont  Aurfes),  the  southern  termination  of  the 
Atlas  mountain  range,  in  the  province  of  Constantino,  in  Algeria,  there 
exists  a  race  of  Kabyles  who  are  the  descendants  of  the  Berbers,  the  gen- 
uine autochthones  of  Africa.  The  practice  of  trephining  prevails  exten- 
sively among  them,  although  it  is  by  no  means  general  among  other  tribes 
of  Kabyles.  Two  French  army  surgeons,  MM.  L.-T.  Martin*^  and  Amcidde 
Paris,^*  have  given  very  full  accounts  of  the  method  adopted. 

It  appears  that  the  operation  is  performed  for  fracture  of  the  skull, 
whether  simple  or  compound,  for  disease  of  the  bone,  and  for  violent  pains 
in  the  head.  It  may  be  performed  at  any  age,  upon  either  sex,  and  upon 
any  part  of  the  skull,  though  the  pai'ietal  bones  seem  to  be  most  frequently 

«Amer.  Naturalist,  Salem,  1877,  xi,  688. 

*'La  trepanation  du  crSne,  telle  qu'elle  est  pratiqu^e  par  les  Kabyles  de  I'Aurcs.  Par  L.-T.  Mar- 
tin.    Le  Montpellier  nidd.,  1867,  xviii,  r;25-535.     Also,  Reprint. 

**  De  la  triSpauation  c<5iihalique  pratiqude  par  les  m61ecius  indigfcncs  de  I'Aouross  (province  do 
C'onstantine).  Par  M.  le  dr.  Am<5d(5e  Paris.  Gazette  m<!d.  de  rAlg(5rie,  Alger,  18G8,  xiii,  2,'j-J8.  Also, 
Reprint. 


26  rEEDISTOKIO  TlfEPUraiNG. 

chosen.  M.  Paris  did  not  meet  with  any  instances  iu  which  the  operation 
had  been  performed  upon  subjects  of  less  than  ten  or  more  than  sixty  years 
of  age. 

The  instruments  are  rude  and  simple  enough,  consisting  of  a  i-azor,  a 
serpette,  one  or  two  saws,  some  straight  and  curved  elevators,  and  the 
hrima,  or  perforator.  This  latter  is  a  metal  rod,  as  thick  as  a  ramrod,  with 
a  point  an  eighth  of  an  inch  long,  but  not  over  one-third  of  the  diameter 
of  the  rod,- which  thus  forms  a  shoulder  and  prevents  too  deep  a  penetration 
of  the  instrument.  (See  Plate  YIII.)  The  point  being  fixed  in  the  bone, 
after  removal  of  the  scalp  by  a  crucial  incision,  the  rod  is  taken  between 
the  hands  of  the  operator,  and  by  a  rapid  to-and-fro  motion  is  made  to 
revolve  so  that  a  puncture  is  produced.  This  is  followed  by  another  and 
another,  until  the  fracture  or  the  portion  of  bone  intended  to  be  removed  is 
surrounded  with  a  row  of  these  holes,  very  close  together.  The  saw  is  used 
to  run  them  one  into  the  other,  and  by  means  of  the  elevator  the  fragment 
is  removed.  The  dentated  edges  are  smoothed,  a  shield  is  fastened  over  the 
aperture,  and  appropriate  dressings,  with  many  ceremonies,  applied.  The 
operation  is  performed  witli  great  slowness,  and  is  not  generally  completed 
at  one  sitting.  It  must,  one  would  think,  be  exquisitely  painful,  but  it  is 
held  to  be  a  point  of  honor  to  exhibit  no  evidence  of  suffering,  and  if 
the  patient  should  be  so  weak  as  to  utter  cries,  he  is  jeered  at,  and  even 
beaten. 

The  foregoing  description  of  the  method  of  operating  is  taken  from  the 
article  by  M.  Martin.  There  is  a  difference  in  the  pro- 
cedure as  related  by  M.  Paris,  who  does  not  mention 
the  use  of  the  brima  or  of  any  analogous  instrument. 
He  says  that  the  tJiehibe  cuts  out  a  squai'e  piece  of 
bone,  inclusive  of  the  injured  portion,  with  a  saw,  lift- 
Fic.  2.— Fiagmont  from  Kabjic  iug  thc  fragment  with  the  elevator.     Great  violence  is 

skoll,  forciMv  broken  out  in  the  ,  i     •  l   •  n      l  •  1 

operaiion.  "  somctuues  used  ni  this  part  ot  the  operation,  and  a 

portion  of  the  outer  or  inner  table  is  occasionally  forced  off,  as  in  the  accom- 
panying figure;  the  bone  from  which  it  was  drawn  was  in  the  possession  of 
M.  Paris. 


r.  .<:.  G.ANDG.  suRrp.y. 


/"REirrsTORic  TKt-.r'rnNiNr,^  ri.  rnr. 


Fir,.  1.  Mouss  (razur).  FiG.  5.  Clicfra  {elevator). 

Fig.  2.  JioHSsadi  (knife).  Fig.  6.  Biima  (perforator). 

Fig.  3.  ElCbretaf  (hook).  Fig.  7.  Mcnchar  (saw). 

Fig.  4.  Mesella  (elevator).  Fig.  8.  Boiissadi  converted  into  saw. 

Half-size.  (Martin.) 


FLETCHEB]  KABYLE  TREPHINING.  27 

The  tJicbibe  (operator)  is  a  sort  of  semi-priest  who  has  inherited  the 
right  to  exercise  his  function;  the  operation,  the  instruments,  the  dressings, 
are  all  sacred,  and  the  patient  is  held  in  reverence  after  recovery.  The 
dressings  consist  mainly  of  woman's  milk  and  of  butter;  the  former  obtained 
from  a  woman  who  'has  duly  performed  her  religious  rites.  Both  these 
ingredients  iigure  in  ceremonial  observances  in  the  Orient. 

It  is  impossible  to  draw  any  conclusion  as  to  the  results  of  this  process 
of  trephining.  The  thebibes  insist  that  it  is  always  successful,-  but  Arab 
mendacity  is  proverbial,  and  neither  M.  Paris  nor  M.  Martin  gives  any 
credence  to  their  statements.  When  commencing  the  incisions,  the  tliebibe's 
formula  is  thus  pronounced :  Thou  wilt  recover  if  it  i^lcase  God.  If  the  patient 
succumb,  his  family  are  told :  It  ivas  written. 

The  natives,  hoAvever,  certainly  regard  the  operation  as  without  danger 
to  life,  and  it  is  even  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  extortion.  M.  Paris  relates 
that  two  men  having  quarreled,  one  struck  the  other  a  blow  on  the  body 
with  a  stick.  Some  days  after  the  latter  had  his  head  trephined  for  a  pre- 
tended fracture  and  sued  his  enemy  for  damages.  The  deception  was 
exposed,  and  both  patient  and  surgeon  were  punished.  The  dieli,  or  price 
of  blood,  is  rigorously  exacted  among  them,  every  injury,  even  a  fatal  one, 
having  its  established  price.  M.  Martin  mentions  that  he  has  seen  men  upon 
whom  trephining  had  been  practiced  five  or  six  times,  so  that  their  heads 
were  monstrously  disfigured.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  these  cases 
the  operation  was  performed  at  intervals  of  time  for  diff'erent  injuries. 

A  remarkable  case  has  been  recently  published  in  which  the  patient 
was  trephined  five  times  within  five  years.^^  The  disease  of  the  bone  for 
which  these  successive  operations  were  performed  originated  in  blows 
received  in  a  brawl  in  1875.  The  last  trephining  took  place  in  1880,  and, 
so  far,  appears  to  have  been  successful. 

In  Otaheite,  the  operator's  armamentarium  consists  of  pieces  of  broken 
glass  bottles  for  scraping,  or,  sometimes,  of  flints,  shark's  teeth  for  incisions, 
and  pieces  of  gourd  with  shark  tendons  for  strings  with  which  to  cover  the 
opening  produced.     A  missionary  at  Uvea,  one  of  the  South  Sea  Islands, 

■"'  A  case  of  repeated  tiephiiiiug.  By  P.  B.  McCutcbou.  Now  Oileaus  Med.  &  Surg.  Jourual,  18S1, 
ix,  259-361. 


28  PllEHISTOlUC  TIIEPIIINING. 

gives  a  very  clear  and  interesting  account  of  tlie  metliod  of  trephining  prac- 
ticed at  that  spot.''"     He  says : 

A  very  surprising  oiicratiou  is  performed  en  the  island  of  Uvea,  iu  the  Loyalty  group.  A  uoliou 
jirevails  that  headache,  neuralgia,  vertigo,  and  other  cerebral  affections  proceed  from  a  crack  iu  the 
liead  or  pressure  of  the  skull  ou  I  he  brain.  The  remedy  is  to  lay  opeu  the  scalp  with  a  cross  or  "J" 
incision,  then  scrape  the  cranium  carefully  and  gently  wilh  a  piece  of  ylass  until  a  hole  is  made  into 
the  skull,  down  to  the  dura  mater,  about  the  size  of  a  crown  piece.  Sometimes  this  scraping  operation 
will  be  even  to  the  pia  mater  by  au  unskillful  surgeon,  or  from  the  imiiatience  of  the  friends,  and  death 
is  the  consequence.  In  the  best  of  hands  about  half  of  those  who  undergo  the  operation  die  from  it. 
Vet  this  barbarous  custom,  from  supersfitiou  and  fashion,  has  been  so  prevalent  that  very  few  of  the 
male  adults  are  without  this  hole  in  the  cranium,  or  "have  a  shingle  loose,"  to  use  an  Australian  jihrase. 
I  am  informed  that  sometimes  au  attempt  is  made  to  cover  the  membranes  of  the  cranium  so  exposed  by 
placing  a  piece  of  cocoannt  shell  under  the  scalp.  For  this  purpose  they  select  a  very  hard  and  durable 
piece  of  shell,  from  which  they  scrape  the  softer  parts  and  grind  quite  smooth,  and  i)ut  this  as  a  i>lato 
between  the  scalp  and  skull.  Formerly  the  trephine  was  simply  a  shark's  tooth ;  now  a  piece  of  broken 
glass  is  found  more  suitable  or  less  objectionable  (if  we  may  even  so  qualify  the  act).  The  part  of  the 
cranium  generally  selected  is  that  where  the  coronal  and  sagittal  sutures  unite,  or  a  little  above  it,  upon 
the  supposition  that  there  the  fracture  exists. 

The  semi-reHgious  character  of  all  and  everything  concerned  in  the 
operation  amongst  the  Kabylian  tribes  of  Algeria  is  of  special  interest,  as 
it  seems  to  strengthen,  by  analogy,  the  theory  that  the  subjects  of  prehis- 
toric trephining  acquired  thereby  a  sacred  character  which  led  to  the  wear- 
ing of  amulets  from  their  skulls,  as  already  described. 

The  curious  suggestion  has  been  made  that  the  tonsure  of  priests  is  a 
perpetuation  of  the  ancient  custom  of  trephining.  The  Abbe  Martign}^,  in 
his  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities,  says  that  the  oldest  Christian 
mosaics  and  manuscripts  represent  St.  Peter  with  the  tonsure  as  a  mark  of 
pre-eminence  over  the  other  apostles.  It  is  probable  that  no  weight  should 
be  attached  to  this  fact.  The  picture  galleries  of  Europe  abound  in  Holy 
Families  where  tonsured  monks  of  various  orders  are  adoring  the  infant 
Christ — anachronisms  which  did  not  trouble  the  old  masters.  We  know, 
too,  that  Brahmin  priests,  of  a  period  long  anterior  to  the  Christian  ei"a, 
are  represented  as  tonsured.  This  does  not,  of  course,  affect  the  question 
of  the  possible  origin  of  the  tonsure  from  the  supposed  sacred  custom  of 
trephining,  but  the  matter  may  be  safely  left  as  unsettled. 

The  discoveries  which  have  been  made  of  late  in  mapping  out  the 
convolutions  of  the  brain,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  the  localization  of  function, 
have  led  to  the  reintroduction  of  trephining  from  a  highly  scientific  stand- 

■■f' Native  medicine  and  surgery  in  the  South  Sea  Islands,  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Ella.  Med.  Times  & 
Gaz.,  Lond.,  1874,  {,'.50. 


U.  S.  G.  AND  G.  Si/KI  ■-£{'. 


PR£HiSTOR/C  TREfHlNING,  PI.  IX. 


Cranium  artififiaUy  trephineil  by  M  Championniire. 


FLETCHEU.J  CONCLUSIOXS.  29 

point.  Given,  in  injuiy  of  the  head  or  abscess  of  the  brain,  the  failure  of  a 
function,  the  locality  of  that  function  being  known,  there  is  the  jilace  to 
trephine.  Some  very  remarkable  results  have  been  attained,  and  the  con- 
sequence is  that  trephining  has  again  become  popular  in  France  Broca 
deserves  the  credit  of  being  among  the  first  to  initiate  this  method  of  tre- 
phining.^^ This  matter  is  referred  to  because  a  distinguished  French  surgeon, 
M,  Lucas-Championni^re,  published  a  work  upon  the  subject  about  four 
years  ago,  and  in  the  introduction,  speaking  of  prehistoric  trephining,  he 
takes  the  gi-ound  that  the  operation  was  not  performed  by  scraping,  as  Broca 
supposed,  but  by  a  series  of  punctures  such  as  have  been  described  as  pro- 
duced by  the  Algerian  operator.*^  To  prove  this,  he  took  a  flint  weapon,  and 
drilling  a  series  of  holes  in  a  skull,  afterwards  ran  them  one  into  the  other 
and  removed  the  piece.  The  serrations  were  easily  smoothed  off  with  a 
piece  of  flint.  The  result  could  not  be  distinguished  from  the  o])ening  pro- 
duced by  scraping,  the  beveled  edges  being  alike.     (See  Plate  IX.) 

This  is  ingenious  and  surprising;  but  while  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  perforations  may  have  been  made  by  puncture,  yet  the  existence  of  a 
considerable  number  of  skulls  partially,  trephined,  the  outer  table  only 
having  been  unmistakably  scraped  away,  offers  a  strong  presumption  in 
favor  of  the  latter  method. 

The  following  conclusions  may  be  permitted: 

1.  The  large  number  of  perforated  neolithic  crania  exhibiting  cicatrized 
edges  establishes  the  existence  of  a  custom  of  trephining. 

2.  The  operation  was  performed  on  both  sexes,  and  generally  at  an 
early  age. 

3.  The  purpose  is  doubtful,  but  from  analogy  it  would  seem  to  have 
been  for  the  relief  of  disease  of  brain,  injury  of  skull,  epilepsy  or  convul- 
sions. 

4.  The  operation  was  probably  performed  by  scraping;  possibly  by  a 
series  of  punctures.  It  is  likely  that  the  first  was  employed  for  children 
and  the  latter  for  the  harder  skulls  of  adults. 

■"M.  Legouest,  tbe  professor  of  military  surgery  at  Val  de  Grace,  formulates  this  remarkable 
rule:  "Singular  as  it  may  appear,  I  think  the  rule  is  that  you  should  always  trephine  when  you  are 
doubtful  whelher  it  ought. to  be  done"! 

■■^fitude  historique  et  cliniquo  sur  la  tri^iianation  dii  crane;  la  trepanation  gniddo  par  Ics  localisa- 
tious  c6ri5br.ales.     Par  Just  Lucas-Champiouniere.     Paris,  1878.     8°,  p.  l'.i. 


30  PREHISTOKK'  TREPHINING. 

5.  Posthumous  trepliining  consisted  in  removing  fragments  of  the  skull 
of  a  person  who  had  undergone  surgical  trephining. 

6.  Each  fragment  was  to  exhibit  a  portion  of  the  cicatrized  edge  of  the 
original  operation;  and  the  purpose  was,  probably,  to  form  an  amulet  to 
protect  from  the  same  disease  or  injury  for  relief  of  which  the  operation 
had  been  performed. 

7.  The  evidence  so  far  confines  the  custom  to  neolithic  man  on  the 
continent  of  Europe. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE. 

Since  the  foregoing  was  printed  a  curious  discovery  has  been  made  of 
something  like  "post-mortem  trephining"  in  a  remote  region.  Dr.  Dy- 
bowski,  who  has  been  traveling  in  Yessel  and  the  Aino  lands,  sent  eight 
Aino  skulls  to  Mr.  Kopernicki,  who  observed  in  five  of  them  that  a  resection 
of  the  foramen  magnum  had  been  performed  in  what  he  described  as  "a 
systematic  manner  analogous  to  the  trephined  skulls  of  the  French  dolmens." 
In  one  skull  a  portion  only  of  the  edge  of  the  foramen  magnum  had  been 
cut  out;  in  another  the  alveolar  process  had  been  sawn  off.  He  supposed 
that  the  purpose  of  the  resection  was  not  ceremonial,  but  medical,  and  that 
the  excised  bone  was  to  be  used  as  a  remedy.  Nothing  is  known  of  trephin- 
ing among  the  Ainos. 

Mr.  Kopernicki  sent  the  description  of  these  skulls  to  the  Ethnological 
Society  of  Berlin,  and  Professor  Virchow  remarked  that  there  was  no  doubt 
that  an  artificial  removal  of  fragments  of  bone  had  taken  place,  generally 
from  the  posterior  and  lateral  sections  of  the  border  of  the  foramen  mag- 
num and  the  adjacent  parts.  In  the  three  Aino  skulls  in  his  own  collection 
nothing  of  the  kind  was  to  be  seen,  but  a  Goldi  skull  and  a  New  Branden- 
burg skull  presented  similar  lesions  He  had  supposed  them,  in  the  latter 
case,  to  be  due  to  an  attempt  to  make  a  drinking-cup  of  the  skull,  it  having 
been  found  in  the  earth  without  any  other  parts  of  a  skeleton,  and  in  the 
frontal  bone  two  small  holes  had  been  made  as  if  for  strings.  The  five  Aino 
skulls  in  question  had  been  dug  out  of  graves  by  Dr.  Dj^bowski  himself, 
and  he  did  not  think  the  drinking-cup  theory  was  applicable  to  them.  He 
was  unable  to  give  any  opinion  as  to  the  object  of  these  resections.*" 

^'ZeitscUrift  fiir  Etluiologie,  Berlin,  1881,  xiii,  191-192.     See,  also,  foot-uote  3,  p.  6  ante. 


II^DEX. 


Page. 

Additional  note 30 

Aiy:ui6res,  Dolmen  near 6 

Aino  sliulla 30 

Algeria 15,22,25 

,  Prehistoric  trephining  in 22 

America,  Prehistoric  trephining  in 23 

American  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci 24 

Amulets 5,6,13 

Athene,  Birth  of 15 

Bahert  de  JuiJl^ 17 

Baye,  Grottoes  of 16,18 

de  Baye 16 

Beaumes-Chaudes,  Caverns  of IR 

Beinhaus  at  Sedlec 20,21 

Be-ief  in  future  existence   indicated  l>y  prehistoric 

trephining 15 

Berbers 25 

Bilin,  Crania  from 21. 

Bogdanoff,  Tumulus  at 22 

Boixe,  Forest  of.  Tumulus  in 17 

Bones  found  inside  of  crania 16 

Bougon,  Tumulus  at 17 

Boujoussac,  I'omb  at 13 

Br::in,  Localization  of  function  of,  applied  totrephining.  29 

Bray-aur-Seine  (Mame) '. 18 

Erima,  iuatrument  for  perforating  stuU 26 

Broca,Paul 5,6,7,8,9,10,12,14,15,16,22,29 

BrooVville,  Ancient  cemetery  at 0 

Bucliland,  Miss  A.  W 15 

Bytchiskala,  Grotto  of 19 

Cartailhac,  fim 23 

Casa  da  Mou va.  Grotto  of *3 

Cavalry  saber  stroke  on  skull 9 

Cavern  of  L'Homme-Moi t 16 

Chauvtt 17 

Chouquet 17 

Ciboumioa,  Dolmen  of 11 

Cicati  ization  of  bone,  Indications  of 7 

Cbidsel.Ingoald 21 

Devil  Kiver,  Mounds  at 25 

Dieb,  or  price  of  blood 27 

Djebel  Aourjis 25 

Dogs.Cbarm  for  fits  in 15 

Drinting-cups  of  skulls 6, 30 

Du(lik,B 20,21 

Dyaks  of  Borneo 24 

Dybowski,Dr .' 30 

Denmark,  Prehistoric  trephining  in 22 

^cuelles,  Mound  at 17 

Ella,  Rev.  Samuel 28 

Kngelhardt 22 

Entre  Roche,  Skull  from 17 

Ei^ilepsy,  Remedies  for 14 

,  Trephiuing  for 14 

Epileptic  of  the  N<!W  Testament 14 

von  Erckert.  General , 21 


Eathonian  crania 16 

;fitang-la  -V ille,  Dolmen  at 17 

Faidherbo,  General 22 

Falster,  Island  of,  Skull  from 22 

Foramen  magnum,  Resection  of CO 

Forehead  never  trephined 9 

French  A  ssoc.  Adv.  Sci 5, 13, 17 

Furfooz,  Crania  from 16 

Gassies 17 

Germany,  Prehistoric  trephining  in 19,  20,  21. 22 

Gilman,  Henry 24,25 

Goldi  akuU  30 

Great  Britain,  Ko  prchiatoric  trephining  in 22 

Gu6gan 17 

Hephaestas 15 

Holbrook,  W.  C 25 

Horses  killed  by  pole-axe.  Skulls  of 20 

Hussites,  Slaughter  at  Sedlec  by 20 

Inca  skull  from  Peru 23 

Intcrnat.  Cong.  Prehist.  Antbrop 16 

Italian  Society  of  An'hrop 22 

Italy,  Prehistoric  trephining  in 22 

Ivorj^-like  surface  of  cicatrized  bone 7,  H 

Kabyles  of  Constantino 25 

,  Trephining  practiced  by 25,26,27 

Kopemicki 30 

La  Lozfere,  Dolmens  of 5,12,13,16,  18,20 

Lagneau,  G.  A 16 

Langdon,  F.W 8 

Lo  Baron,  Jules 9, 22 

Legoueat 29 

Lisbon,  Museum  of 23 

Livy 6 

Lucas-Championni^re,  J 29 

Lucian 15 

McCutchon,  P.  B 27 

Madisonville,  Prehiatoric  cemetery  at 8 

Mantegazza 22 

la  Marconi^re,  Dolmen  at 13 

Martigny,  Abb6 28 

Martin,L.-T 25,26,27 

Mason,  O.T 24 

Mauvoiflin 18 

deMortillet,  A 10,23 

Mua6o  Broca 9,22 

Kelaton 24 

Kew  Brandenburg  skull 30 

Kicolucci 22 

Niort 17 

Koes,  Dolmen  at 22 

Noraemen  drinking  fi  om  skulls 6 

Kott.J.P 24 

Occipital  bone,  Trephining  on. 9 

Os  antiepilepticum 14 

Oasa  Worniiana 14 

Otalieite,  Trephining  in 27 

31 


32 


INDEX. 


Parietal  bones  usual  site  for  trephining 9, 25 

Paris,  Anieilue 25,26,27 

Parrot 9,18.19 

Prunifires  5,6,11,12,13,16,17,18 

Quatrefajes 16 

Quick,  E.E 6 

Kixce  in  relation  to  traumatism 11 

Raclaffe  or  scraping 18 

Rixer  Rouge,  Mounds  at 24 

Ivock  River,  Mounds  at 25 

Koknia,  Skulls  from 22 

Rondelles 5,6,13,16,21 

.Counterfeit 23 

Sable  River,  Mounds  at 24 

Scbneider.L 22 

Sedlec  Beinhaua 20,21 

Skull,  Congenital  deficiencies  of. 9 

,  Injuries  of,  from  blows 8, 10 

,  Reparative  process  of  wounda  of 10 

,  Trephining  of,  for  disease  of  bone 18 

,  Wounds  of 8,9 

Society  of  Ant hropology  of  Paris 6. 9, 12, 17, 18, 23 

of  Ethnology  of  Berlin 20 

South  Sea  Islands,  Trephining  in 12,15,27 

Squier,E.  G 23 

Staggers  in  sheep  cured  by  trephining 12 

Stmpcic,  Skulls  from 22 


Page. 

Tasil.Jehan 18 

Tertro  Gu6rin,  Skulls  from 17 

Thebibes 26, 27 

Tonsure  a  symbol  of  trephining 28 

Trephining,  Incomplete 18 

,  Posthumous,  on  Aino  sIvuUs 30 

,  Prehistoric,  confined  to  neolithic  age 16 

—  ■  ■     , ,  performed  on  females  9 

, , young  children 10 

, ,  Methods  of 11,12,13 

J J  Purpose  of 14 

^ ^  Posthumous 7 

, ,  Surgical 7 

not  dangerous  ;)er  se 8 

performed  as  a  means  of  extortion 27 

repeated  on  same  person 18, 27 

Uvea,  Trephining  in 2^7,28 

Vaur^al  (Oise),  Cranium  from 9 

Veckenstedt 12 

Velpeau 11 

Virchow,  Rudolph 21,30 

"WanlieI,H 19,20,21 

Wiedersheim,  R 22 

"Woman's  milk  as  surgical  dressing 27 

Zeus,  Trephining  performed  on 15 

Ziemcin,  Eondelle  from 21 

Ziska,  John 20 


DEPARTMENT    OF    THE    INTERIOR 

U.  S.  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  REGION 
J.  W.  POWELL  IN  Charge 


A    STUDY 


MANUSCEIPT  TEOANO 


CYllUS  THOMAS  Pii.  D. 


INTRODUCTION    BY   D.   G.   BRINTON   M.   D. 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT     PRINTING     OFFICE 

1882 


l,e^,ChyU^.   i<ry>^         /7    ' 


PREFACE 


I  am  fully  aware  that  this  paper  bears  the  marks  of  haste  and  gives 
evidence  of  the  fact  that  a  number  of  the  more  important  points  are  not 
worked  out  as  thoroughly  and  completely  as  they  might  have  been  had 
more  time  been  devoted  to  them.  But  the  growing  interest  in  the  public 
mind  in  reference  to  all  that  relates  to  the  past  history  of  our  continent  has 
induced  me  to  present  it  in  its  present  incomplete  form  rather  than  defer  its 
publication  to  an  indefinite  period  in  the  future.  It  is  thei'efore  offered  to 
the  public  more  as  a  tentative  work  than  with  the  expectation  that  all  my 
conclusions  will  stand  the  test  of  criticism. 

I  have  endeavored,  as  will  be  seen  by  an  examination  of  its  contents, 
to  confine  my  studies  as  strictly  as  possible  to  the  Manuscript  itself,  without 
being  influenced  in  my  conclusions  by  the  conclusions  of  others — using 
■  Landa's  "Belacion,"  Perez's  "  Cronologia,"  Brasseur's  works,  and  the  Dresden 
Codex  as  my  chief  aids;  not  intending  by  any  means  to  ignore  the  valu- 
able work  done  by  others  in  the  same  field,  but  that  I  might  remain  as  free 
as  possible  to  work  out  results  in  my  own  line  of  thought. 

I  may  also  add  that  at  the  time  the  main  portion  of  the  paper  was 
written  I  was  in  the  West,  out  of  reach  of  any  extensive  library  contain- 
ing works  relating  to  the  history,  antiquities,  &c ,  of  Mexico  and  Central 
America.  This  fact  I  mention  as  an  apology  for  the  comparatively  few 
works  I'eferred  to  in  the  paper. 

I  have  studied  the  Manuscript  somewhat  in  the  same  way  the  child 
undertakes  to  solve  an  illustrated  rebus,  assuming  as  a  standpoint  the  status 
of  the  semi-civilized  Indian,  and  endeavoring,  as  far  as  possible,  to  proceed 
upon  the  same  plane  of  thought.  In  other  words,  I  have  not  proceeded  upon 
the  assumption  that  the  pre-Columbian  Indians  of  Yucatan  were  learned  phi- 


iv  PREFACE. 

losophers,  thoroughly  versed  in  science  and  general  knowledge,  but  were 
Indians,  who  through  some  influence,  whether  introduced  or  indigenous, 
had  made  considerable  advance  in  certain  lines  of  art  and  science.  But 
these  lines,  as  I  believe,  were  few  and  limited,  relating  chiefly  to  architect- 
ux-e,  sculpture,  painting,  and  the  computation  of  time. 

As  an  examination  of  the  Manuscript  soon  satisfied  me  that  it  was,  to 
a  great  extent,  a  kind  of  religious  calendar,  I  found  it  necessary  first  to  dis- 
cuss the  Maya  chronological  system  in  order  to  make  use  of  the  numerous 
dates  found  in  the  work — a  fact  that  will  explain  why  so  many  pages  of  the 
first  part  of  the  paper  are  devoted  to  this  subject. 

The  results  of  my  investigations  are  summed  up  at  the  close  of  this 
preface.  I  find  the  work  consists  of  two  parts:  first,  a  calendar  giving  the 
dates  of  religious  festivals  running  through  a  long  period  of  time,  in  all 
probability  a  grand  cycle  of  three  hundred  and  twelve  years,  together  with 
brief  formulas;  second,  an  illustration  of  the  habits,  customs,  and  employ- 
ments of  the  people.  But  these  two  subjects  are  mingled  together  through- 
out the  Manuscript;  the  first  including  most  of  the  characters  or  hiero- 
glyphics around  the  spaces;  the  second  the  figures  in  the  spaces. 

One  omission  in  my  paper  will  be  observed  by  those  who  are  familiar 
with  the  subject,  that  is,  the  failure  on  my  part  to  notice  and  account  for,  in 
the  Maya  chronological  system,  the  surplus  days  of  the  bissextile  years.  This 
omission  on  my  part  has  been  intentional.  I  can  find  no  plan  by  which  to 
insert  them  in  the  series,  numbering  them  as  the  others,  Avithout  interfering 
with  that  order  which  is  essential  to  the  system  itself.  I  have  therefore 
proceeded  upon  the  assumption  that  they  are  added  as  uncounted  days,  and 
hence  interfere  in  no  w'ay  with  the  regular  order.  If  I  am  mistaken  in  this 
conclusion,  considerable  modification  in  my  tabular  arrangement  of  the 
years  may  be  necessary,  even  though  the  general  plan  be  correct. 

A  very  serious  drawback  to  the  attempt  to  explain  the  written  char- 
acters or  hieroglyphics  has  been  the  lack  on  my  part  of  a  knowledge  of  the 
Maya  language.  Such  a  knowledge  I  do  not  claim;  therefore,  in  this  part 
of  the  work,  the  best  I  could  do  was  to  quote  from  the  lexicons,  as  there 
given,  such  words  as  I  found  it  necessary  to  refer  to.  The  propriety  of 
attempting  anything  in  this  direction  without  this  knowledge  may  be  justly 


PKEFACE.  V 

questioned.  But  after  seriously  considering  this  point,  1  concluded  it  best 
to  give  to  the  world  the  result  of  my  investigations  with  these  explanations, 
as  I  felt  confident  I  had  made  some  progress  in  deciphering  this  mystei'ious 
Manuscript. 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  acknowledging  the  obligations  I  am  under 
to  Dr.  D.  G.  Brinton,  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  valuable  notice  of  the  Maya 
Manuscripts  which  he  has  contributed  as  an  introduction  to  my  paper. 


KESULTS  OE   MY  INVESTIGATIONS  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

These  may  be  briefly  summed  up  as  follows: 

1st.  That  the  work  was  intended  chiefly  as  a  ritual  or  religious  calen- 
dar to  guide  the  priests  in  the  observance  of  religious  festivals,  and  their 
numerous  ceremonies  and  other  duties.  That  the  very  large  number  of 
day  columns  and  numerals,  which  form  fully  one-half  of  what  may  be 
called  the  written  portion,  are  simply  dates  which  appear  to  run  through 
one  entire  grand  cycle  of  312  years,  fixing  the  time  when  festivals  should 
be  held  and  other  religious  observances  take  place.  Also  that  much  of  the 
text  proper — the  portion  in  hieroglyphics  or  written  charactei's — is  purely 
ritualistic,  consisting  of  very  simple  formulas. 

2d.  That  the  figures  in  the  spaces  are  in  some  cases  symbolical,  in 
others  simple  pictographs,  and,  in  quite  a  number,  refer  to  religious  ceremo- 
nies, but  that  in  many  instances  they  relate  to  the  habits,  customs,  and  oc- 
cupations of  the  people — as,  for  example,  their  method  of  capturing  game, 
which,  as  appears  from  this  work,  was  as  stated  by  Herrera,  chiefly  by  "gins 
and  traps" — and  the  incidents  of  the  chase;  that  which  relates  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  apiarists;  making  ropes;  the  manufacture  of  idols ;  agricultural 
pursuits;  occupation  and  duties  of  the  females,  &c.  But  even  hei'e  we  see 
the  religious  element  pervading  everything. 

3d.  That  the  work  appertained  to  and  was  prepared  for  a  people  liv- 
ing in  the  interior  of  the  country,  away  from  the  sea-shore.  This  is  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  nothing  is  found  in  it  relating  to  fishermen,  or  their  vessels. 


vi  PKEFAOE. 

But  there  are  reasons  for  believing  that  it  pertained  to  a  compa)"itively  well- 
wooded  section. 

4th.  That  the  people  of  the  section  where  it  was  prepared  were  peace- 
able, not  addicted  to  war;  and  were  sedentary,  supporting  themselves  chiefly 
by  agricultural  products,  though  relying  upon  their  "gins  and  traps"  and 
the  chase  to  supply  them  with  animal  food.  Twelve  of  the  plates  (VIII 
to  XIX)  are  devoted  to  this  latter  subject;  ten  (I*  to  X*)  to  the  business, 
festivals,  &c.,  of  the  apiarists  and  honey-gatherers;  and  ten  (XXIV  to 
XXXIII)  to  rains,  storms,  and  agricultural  pursuits. 

The  execution  and  character  of  the  work  itself,  as  well  as  its  contents, 
bear  testimony  to  the  fact  that  the  people  were  comparatively  well 
advanced  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  But  there  is  nothing  here  to  warrant 
the  glowing  descriptions  of  their  art  and  refinement  given  by  some  of  the 
earlier  as  well  as  more  modern  writers,  nor  even  to  correspond  with  what 
might  be  inferred  from  the  architectural  remains  in  some  parts  of  Yucatan. 
We  find  in  the  work  indications  of  stone  and  wooden  houses,  but  generally 
with  thatched  roofs ;  at  least  they  ahvay s  have  wooden  supports,  and  are  of 
a  temporary  character. 

The  dress  of  the  males  appears  to  have  consisted  of  a  strip  of  cloth 
(probably  cotton),  passed  once  or  twice  around  the  loins,  with  one  end 
hanging  down  behind  and  the  other  in  front,  or  a  small  flap  in  front  and 
the  ends  behind.  That  of  the  females  consisted  of  a  skirt  fastened  at  the 
waist  and  hanging  down  to  the  ankles.  A  kind  of  broad  anklets  and  wrist- 
lets appear  also  to  have  been  quite  common  with  the  better  class,  but  the 
feet  were  always  bare.  The  women  jiarted  their  hair  in  the  middle,  that  of 
the  matrons  or  married  women  not  being  allowed  to  hang  down,  while  that 
of  the  younger  or  unmarried  ones  was  allowed  to  hang  in  long  locks  behind. 

Mats  alone  seem  to  have  been  used  as  seats. 

The  pottery,  so  far  as  I  can  judge  by  what  is  shown  in  the  Manu- 
script (and  in  this  prefatory  statement  I  confine  my  remai'ks  strictly  to 
what  seems  to  be  showai  here,  unless  otherwise  expressly  stated),  was  of  an 
inferior  grade  as  to  form  and  decoration,  but  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  pots 
with  legs  were  common.  Some  censers  in  the  form  of  a  snake's  neck  and 
head  are  the  best  specimens  represented. 


PEEFAOE.  vii 

In  planting  their  corn  (maize)  it  was  dibbled  in  with  a  curved  stick, 
five  grains  to  a  hill  being  the  established  number.  While  at  this  work  they 
wore  a  peculiar  head-covering,  apparently  a  kind  of  matting.  The  other 
cultivated  plants  noticed  in  the  work  appear  to  be  cacao,  cotton,  and  a 
leguminous  species,  probably  a  climbing  bean,  as  it  is  supported  by  a  stake. 

I  judge,  from  a  number  of  the  figures,  that  their  corn  while  growing 
was  subject  to  the  attacks  of  numerous  insects  (represented  as  worms  or 
snakes),  which  ate  foliage,  ear,  and  root,  and  was  frequently  injured  by 
severe  storms,  and  also  that  the  planted  grains  were  pulled  up  by  birds  and 
a  small  quadruped.  Their  crops  were  also  subject  to  injury  by  severe 
droughts,  accompanied  by  great  heat. 

The  production  of  honey  seems  to  have  been  a  very  important  indus- 
try in  the  section  to  which  the  work  relates,  but  so  far  I  have  succeeded  in 
interpreting  but  few  of  the  figures  which  refer  to  it 

Rope-making  (or  possibly  weaving)  is  represented  on  Plate  XI* — a 
very  simple  process,  which  will  be  found  described  in  my  jsfiper. 

Their  chief  mechanical  work,  as  I  judge  from  this  Manuscript,  was  the 
manufacture  of  idols,  some  being  made  of  clay  and  others  carved  of  wood 
Two  implements  used  in  making  their  wooden  images  appear,  from  the 
figures,  to  have  been  of  metal,  one  a  hatchet,  the  other  sharp-pointed  and 
shaped  much  like  a  pair  of  shears. 

Spears  and  arrows  (if  such  they  be,  for  there  is  no  figure  of  a  bow  in 
the  entire  work),  or  darts,  are  the  only  implements  of  warfare  shown.  The 
spears  or  darts  seem  to  have  been  often  thrown  by  means  of  a  kind  of  hook, 
and  guided  by  a  piece  of  wood  with  a  notch  at  the  end. 

5th.  The  taking  of  life,  apparently  of  a  slave,  is  indicated  in  one  place, 
but  whether  as  a  sacrificial  ofi'ering  is  uncertain.  It  is  evidently  not  in  the 
manner  described  by  the  early  writers,  as  in  this  case  it  is  by  decapitation 
with  a  machete  or  hatchet,  the  arms  being  bound  behind  the  back,  and  what 
is  presumed  to  be  a  yoke  fixed  on  the  back  of  the  head.  This  is  the  only 
thing  in  the  Manuscript,  except  holding  captives  by  the  hair,  as  in  the 
Mexican  Codices,  which  can  possibly  be  construed  to  indicate  human  sacri- 
fice. In  the  Dresden  Codex  human  sacrifice  in  the  usual  way — by  opening 
the  breast — is  clearly  indicated. 


viii  PEEFAGE. 

6th.  We  learn  from  the  figures  in  the  Manuscript  that  the  cross  in  some 
of  its  forms  was  in  use  among  this  people  as  a  religious  emblem,  and  also . 
that  the  bird  was  in  some  cases  brought  into  connection '  with  it,  as  at 
Palenque. 

7th.  In  regard  to  the  written  characters  I  have  reached  the  following 
conclusions: 

That,  although  the  movement  of  the  figures  is  from  the  right  to  the 
left,  and  the  plates  should  be  taken  in  this  way,  at  least  by  pairs,  yet,  as  a 
general  rule,  the  characters  are  in  columns,  to  be  read  from  the  top  down- 
wards, columns  following  each  other  from  left  to  right;  that  when  they  are 
in  lines  they  are  to  be  read  from  left  to  right  and  by  lines  from  the  top 
downwards,  but  that  lines  are  used  onl}^  where  it  is  not  convenient  to  place 
the  characters  in  columns.  The  correctness  of  this  conclusion  is,  I  think, 
susceptible  of  demonstration  by  what  is  found  in  the  Manuscript. 

8th.  That  there  is  no  fixed  rule  in  reference  to  the  arrangement  of  the 
parts  of  compound  characters.  The  few  which  I  have  been  able  to  decipher 
satisfactorily  appear  to  have  the  ^larts  generally  ai'ranged  in  an  order  nearly 
or  quite  the  reverse  of  that  in  which  the  characters  themselves  are  placed. 

9th.  That  the  characters,  while  to  a  certain  extent  phonetic,  are  not 
true  alphabetic  signs,  but  syllabic.  Nor  will  even  this  definition  hold  true 
of  them  all,  as  some  appear  to  be  ideographic  and  others  simply  abbrevi- 
ated pictorial  representations.  Most  of  the  characters  are  compound,  and 
the  parts  more  or  less  abbreviated,  and,  as  the  writing  is  certainly  the  work 
of  the  priests,  we  may  correctly  term  it  hieratic. 

Landa's  alphabet,  I  think,  is  the  result  of  an  attempt  on  his  part  to  pick 
out  of  the  compound  characters  their  simple  elements,  which  he  erroneously 
supposed  represented  letters.  The  day  characters  are  found  in  the  Manu- 
script substantially  as  given  by  this  author,  but  appear  to  have  been  derived 
from  an  earlier  age,  and  to  have  lost  in  part  their  original  signification.  No 
niontli  characters  are  found  in  this  work,  though  common  in  the  Dresden 
Codex. 

10th.  That  the  work  (the  original,  if  the  one  now  in  existence  be  a 
copy)  was  probably  written  about  the  middle  or  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century.     This  conclusion  is  readied  first,  from  internal  evidence  alone; 


PREFACE.  IX 

second,  from  this,  together  with  historical  evidence.  The  tribe  appears  to 
have  been  at  the  time  in  a  peaceable,  quiet,  and  comparatively  happy  con- 
dition, which  will  carry  us  back  to  a  time  preceding  the  fall  of  Mayapan, 
and  before  the  introduction  of  Aztec  soldiers  by  the  Cocomes. 

1 1  th.  I  think  we  find  conclusive  evidence  in  the  work  that  the  Ahau 
or  Katun  was  a  period  of  24  years,  and  the  great  cycle  of  312;  also,  that 
the  series  commenced  with  a  Cauac  instead  of  a  Kan  year,  as  has  been 
usually  supposed. 

Lastly,  I  add  that  I  think  Brasseur  was  right  in  supposing  that  this 
work  originated  in  that  section  of  the  peninsula  known  as  Peten. 

CYRUS  THOMAS. 

'.^  6  dv  ,-  -    '' 

3  -2.-  -^     '\  .    .  oLu  a     /I    c" 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


Page. 

Preface iii 

Results  of  my  investigations  of  the  Manuscript  Troano v 

Table  of  Contents xi 

List  of  Illustrations xiii 

Introduction  by  Dr.  D.  G.  Brinton xvii 

The  graphic  system  and  ancient  records  of  the  Mayas xvii 

1.  Introductory xvii 

2.  Descriptions  by  Spanish  writers xix 

3.  References  from  native  sources xxvii 

4.  The  existing  Codices xxx 

5.  Efforts  at  interpretation xxxiv 

Chapter  I. — The  Manuscript  and  its  Characters 1 

II.— The  Maya  Calendar 5 

III. — Explanation  of  Figures  and  Characters  on  Plates  XX-XXIII  of  the  Manuscript 

Troano,  and  25-28  of  the  Dresden  Codex 59 

IV. — Suggestions  as  to  the  probable  meaning  of  some  of  the  figures  on  the  other  plates. 

Part  First  of  the  Manuscript 93 

Part  Second  of  the  Manuscript Ill 

V. — Symbols,  Pictographs,  and  other  Figui-es  which  cannot  be  properly  classed  as 

Written  Characters 125 

VI. — The  Written  Characters  of  the  Manuscript 136 

The  direction  in  which  they  are  to  be  read - 136 

The  order  in  which  the  parts  of  compound  characters  are  to  be  taken 140 

VII. — Illustrations  of  the  Day  Columns  and  numbers  in  the  first  part  of  the  Manuscript.  1C2 

VIII. — A  Discussion  of  Dates,  with  special  reference  to  those  of  the  Perez  Manuscript...  187 

The  Maya  Manuscript 188 

Maya 188 

Translation 189 

IX. — Insriptions  on  the  Palenque  Tablet 198 

Appendices 209 

Appendix  No.  1. — Extracts  from  the  "Relacion  de  Cosas  de  Yucatan  "  of  Diego  de  Landa,  in  re- 
lation to  the  festivals  of  the  supplementary  or  closing  days  of  the  year, 

H  XXXV-XXXVII.     (Pp.  210-226.)  209 

No.  2. — Quotation  from  an  article  by  Seilor  Melgar 216 

No.  3.— Translation  of  Landa's  description  of  the  festiv.-ils  held  in   the  different 

months  of  the  year.     Relacion,  pp.  240-310 217 

No.  4. — Mode  of  Building  Houses  among  the  Yucatecs— Landa 228 

No.  5. — Manner  of  Baptism  in  Yucatan — Landa 229 

Original 229 

Translation -31 

XI 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS, 


Face  Page. 

Plate  I.— Fac-simile  of  Plate  XX  of  the  Manuscript  Troano  (colored) 67 

II. — Fac-simile  of  Plate  XXI  of  the  Manuscript  Troano  (colored) 71 

III. — Fac-simUe  of  Plate  XXII  of  the  Manuscript  Troano  (colored) 74 

IV. — Fac-simile  of  Plate  XXIII  of  the  Manuscript  Troano  (colored) 78 

v.— Fac  simile  of  Plate  2T>  of  the  Dresden  Codex  (uncolored) 82 

VI. — Fac-simile  of  Plate  26  of  the  Dresden  Codex  (uncolored) SO 

VII. — Fac-simile  of  Plate  27  of  the  Dresden  Codex  (uncolored) 90 

VIII.— Fac-simile  of  Plate  28  of  the  Dresden  Codex  (uncolored) 94 

IX.— Fac-simile  of  Dr.  Rau's  Plate  of  the  Palenque  Tablet 201 

Page. 

Fig.     1. — Comparison  of  Lauda's  characters  with  those  of  the  Manuscript  Troano 2 

2. — Day  characters -^ 

3. — Mouth  characters — 6 

4. — Method  of  giviug  dates  with  characters 13 

5. — Day  column,  with  numeral  characters 22 

(«. — Column  of  day  characters 27 

7. — Time  symbols  from  the  Dresden  Codex 42 

8.— Symbols  of  the  Cardinal  points 70 

9.— Stone  symbol 74 

10. — Bread  symbol 80 

11. — Bread  symbol  in  another  form 81 

12. — Incense  symbol 92 

13. — Figure  of  a  deity  with  triple-headed  head-dress 98 

14.— Time  symbol  from  Plate  VI 97 

If). — Fignre  of  an  Armadillo  in  a  pitfall 98 

16. — Copy  of  the  middle  aud  lower  division  of  Plate  XIV 99 

■  17. — Incense-bnrner  119 

18.— Hatchets 126 

19. — Spear  and  dart  (or  arrow) 126 

20.— Honey  symbol 127 

21.— Calendar  wheel  (0 127 

22.— Mortar 127 

23. — Mortar 127 

24.— Paint  cup 127 

25.— Priest  painting  an  adoratorio  or  canopied  seat 128 

26.— Idol  in  a  baldachin  or  canopied  seat 128 

27. — House  symbol 128 

28. — House  symbol .- 129 

29. — House  symbol , 129 

30. — House  or  Temple  symbol  from  Dresden  Codex 131 

31. — Woman  preparing  material  for  ropes  or  cloth 131 

32. — Woman  making  ropes  (or  weaving) 132 

Xlll 


Xiv  T^IST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Vago. 

X!. — MetLoJ  of  oarvinj;  wooilcu  idols 132 

34. — Method  of  iiaiutiu^  idols 13i 

35. — Implement,  supposed  to  be  metallic,  used  in  carving  wooden  idols 133 

36. — Implement ;  use  unknown 133 

37. — Implement,  probably  used  as  a  saw IX', 

38.— Cutting  instrument 133 

39. — Figures  of  matting 133 

40.— Bat  or  fan 134 

41.— Bird-cage 134 

42. — Block  of  wood  marked  witti  wood  symbols 134 

43.— Mimosa  leaf 134 

44. — Supposed  figure  of  a  curtain 134 

45. — Symbol  denoting  "tying  the  years" 134 

46.— Native  smoking  a  cigar 134 

47.— Copy  of  the  lower  division  of  Plate  XV 138 

48. — Copy  of  the  middle  and  lower  divisions  of  Plate  XIX 139 

49. — Landa's  Maya  Alphabet 141 

50. — Stone  symbol 144 

51. — Bread  symbol 144 

5'2. — Bread  symbol 144 

53. — Symbols  for  east  and  west 144 

54. — Symbols  for  north  and  south 144 

55. — Character  denoting  "wood" 144 

56. — Character  marked  on  spear-heads 145 

57. — Armadillo  symbol 145 

58. — Vase  or  oUa  symbol 145 

59. — Same  character  as  a  prefix 145 

60. — Lauda's  character  for  the  month  P.ax 145 

61. — Pax  symbol  from  the  Dresden  Codex  - 145 

62. — Similar  character  from  the  Dresden  Codex 146 

63. — Similar  character  from  the  Dresden  Codex 146 

64. — Character  signifying  p^ec«a?i — "tortilla  of  maize" 146 

65. — Character  in  head-dress,  signifying  jjpoc — "hat"  or  "head-covering" 147 

66. — Interlaced  character 147 

67. — Landa's  character  for  Chicchan 147 

68. — Manuscript  character  for  Chicchan 147 

69. — Character  for  Omal,  a  certain  kind  of  tortilla 148 

70.— Character  from  Plate  XIX 148 

71. — Group  of  characters  from  Plate  XXIII* 149 

72. — Character  probably  signifying  prayer 149 

73. — Group  of  characters  from  Plate  VII  * 149 

74. — Caban  characters  150 

75.— Figure  from  Plate  VIII* 150 

76.— Character  from  Plate  XIV* 151 

77. — Manuscript  character  for  the  day  Cib 151 

78. — Character  from  Plate  V 151 

79. — Copy  of  the  second  and  third  divisions  of  Plate  XX TX 152 

80.— Figure  of  a  hand  from  Plate  III* 153 

ai.—Character  from  Plate  III* 153 

82.— Character  from  Plate  III* 153 

83.— Ch8»racter  from  Plate  III* 153 

84. — Character  often  figured  on  Plates  I  to  X  ' 153 

85. — Character  or  symbol  for  East 153 

86. — Copy  of  two  divisions  of  Plate  XX  * 154 

87. — Character  from  third  division  of  Plate  XX  * 155 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  XV 


88.— Character  from  third  division  of  Plate  XX* l^ 

89. — Character  from  third  division  of  Plate  XX* 15G 

90.— Bread  symbol 1^6 

91.— Bread  symbol 156 

92. — Armadillo  symbol 158 

93.— Character 158 

94. — Character  resembling  death  symbol 158 

95. — Character  from  lower  division  Plate  XX  * 159 

96. -Death  symbol 159 

97. — Copy  of  upper  division  of  Plate  X 160 

98. — Group  of  characters  from  Plate  XIV 161 

99. — Day  columns  and  numerals  from  Plate  II 164 

100. — Day  columns  and  numerals  from  Plate  V 166 

101. — Dr.  Eau's  index  diagram  of  Palenque  Tablet 199 


INTRODUCTION. 

BY  DANIEL,  G.  BRIKTON,  M.  D. 

THE   GlRAPniC   SYSTEM   AND   ANCIENT   RECORDS   OF  THE 

MAYAS. 

1.— INTRODUCTORY. 

One  of  the  ablest  of  living  ethnologists  has  classified  the  means  of 
recording  knowledge  under  two  general  headings — Thought-writing  and 
Sound-writing.^  The  former  is  again  divided  into  two  forms,  the  first  and 
earliest  of  which  is  by  pictures,  the  second  by  picture-writing. 

The  superiority  of  picture-writing  over  the  mere  depicting  of  an  occur- 
rence is  that  it  analyzes  the  thought  and  expresses  separately  its  component 
parts,  whereas  the  picture  presents  it  as  a  whole.  The  representations 
familiar  among  the  North  American  Indians  are  usually  mere  pictures,  while 
most  of  the  records  of  the  Aztec  communities  are  in  picture-writing. 

The  genealogical  development  of  Sound-writing  begins  by  the  substi- 
tution of  the  sign  of  one  idea  for  that  of  another  whose  sound  is  nearly  or 
quite  the  same.  Such  was  the  early  graphic  system  of  Egypt,  and  such 
substantially  to-day  is  that  of  the  Chinese.  Above  this  stands  sj'llabic 
writing,  as  that  of  the  Japanese,  and  the  semi-syllabic  signs  of  the  old 
Semitic  alphabet;  while,  as  the  perfected  result  of  these  various  attempts, 
we  reach  at  last  the  invention  of  a  true  alphabet,  in  which  a  definite  figure 
corresponds  to  a  definite  elementary  sound. 

It  is  a  primary  question  in  American  archaeology,  How  far  did  the  most 

'  Dr.  Friedricli  Miillcr,  Gnindriss  der  SpraclitmssenscltafI,  Band  i,  pp.  151-156. 
11  M  T  XVII 


Xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

cultivated  nations  of  the  Western  Continent  ascend  this  scale  of  graphic 
development"?  This  question  is  as  yet  unanswered.  All  agree,  however, 
that  the  highest  evolution  took  place  among  the  Nahuatl-speaking  tribes  of 
Mexico  and  the  Maya  race  of  Yucatan. 

I  do  not  go  too  far  in  saying  that  it  is  proved  that  the  Aztecs  used  to  a 
certain  extent  a  phonetic  system  of  writing,  one  in  which  the  figures  i-efer  not 
to  the  thought,  but  to  the  sound  of  the  thought  as  expressed  in  spoken  lan- 
guage. This  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  researches  of  M.  Aubin,  and,  of 
late,  by  the  studies  of  Senor  Orozco  y  Ben-a.^ 

Two  evolutionary  steps  can  be  distinguished  in  the  Aztec  writing.  In 
the  earlier  the  plan  is  that  of  the  rebus  in  combination  with  ideograms, 
which  latter  are  nothing  more  than  the  elements  of  picture-writing.  Ex- 
,  amples  of  this  plan  are  the  familiar  "tribute  rolls"  and  the  names  of  towns 
and  kings,  as  shown  in  several  of  the  codices  published  by  Lord  Kings- 
borough.  The  second  step  is  where  a  conventional  image  is  employed  to 
represent  the  sound  of  its  first  syllable.  This  advances  actually  to  the  level 
of  the  syllabic  alphabet;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  there  are  any  Aztec  records 
entirely,  or  even  largely,  in  this  form  of  writing.  They  had  only  readied 
the  commencement  of  its  development. 

The  graphic  s3-stem  of  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan  was  very  difi'erent  from 
that  of  the  Aztecs.  No  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  two  could  fail  at  once 
to  distinguish  between  the  Manuscripts  of  the  two  nations.  They  are 
plainl}^  independent  develoj^ments. 

We  know  much  more  about  the  ancient  civilization  of  Mexico  than  of 
Yucatan ;  we  have  many  more  Aztec  than  Maya  Manuscripts,  and  hence  we 
are  moi'e  at  a  loss  to  speak  with  positiveness  about  the  Maya  system  of 
writing  than  about  the  Mexican.  We  must  depend  on  the  brief  and  unsat- 
isfactory statements  of  the  early  Spanish  writers,  and  on  what  little  modern 
research  has  accomplished,  for  means  to  form  a  correct  opinion;  and  there 
is  at  present  a  justifiable  discrejiancy  of  opinion  about  it  among  those  who 
have  given  the  subject  most  attention. 

'Aubin,  M&noirc  sur  Ja  rciiitiire  didaetique  ct  V Ecriture  figurative  des  anduxs  Mexicains,  iu  tho  intro- 
duction to  Brasseur  (tie  Boiirbourg)'s  Histoire  dcs  Nations  cirilisees  du  Mcxique  ct  de  VAmcrique  C'enirale, 
loni.  i;  Manuel  Orozco  y  Berra,  Evsa^o  de  Dcscifravion  gcroglifica,  iu  the  Analcs  del  Musco  nacional  de 
Mexico,  torn,  i,  ii. 


INTRODUCTION  XIX 


2.— DESCRIPTIONS  BY  SPANISH  WRITERS. 

The  earliest  exploration  of  the  coast  of  Yucatan  was  that  of  Francisco 
Hernandez  de  Cordova,  in  1517.  The  year  following,  a  second  expedition, 
under  Juan  de  Grijalva,  visited  a  number  of  points  between  the  island  of 
Cozumel  and  the  Bahia  de  Terrainos. 

'Several  accounts  of  Grijalva's  voyage  liave  been  preserved,  but  they 
make  no  distinct  reference  to  the  method  of  writing  they  found  in  use. 
Some  native  books  were  obtained,  however,  probably  from  the  Mayas,  and 
were  sent  to  Spain,  where  they  were  seen  by  the  historian  Peter  Martyr. 
He  describes  them  in  general  terms,  and  compares  the  characters  in  which 
they  were  written  to  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  some  of  which  he  had 
seen  in  Rome.  He  supposes  that  they  contain  the  laws  and  ceremonies  of 
the  people,  astronomical  calculations,  the  deeds  of  their  kings,  and  other 
events  of  their  history.  He  also  speaks  in  commendation  of  the  neatness 
of  their  general  appearance  and  the  skill  with  which  the  drawing  and  paint- 
ing were  carried  out.  He  further  mentions  that  the  natives  used  this  method 
of  writing  or  drawing  in  the  affairs  of  common  life.^ 

Although  Yucatan  became  thus  early  known  to  the  Spaniards,  it  was 
not  until  1541  that  a  permanent  settlement  was  effected^  in  which  year 
Francisco  de  Montejo,  the  younger,  advanced  into  the  central  province  of 
Cell  Pech,  and  established  a  city  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  town  called 
Ichcamiho,  which  means  "the  five  (temples)  of  many  oracles  (or  serpents)," 
ti  wliicli  he  gave  the  name  Merida,  on  account  of  the  magnificent  ancient 
edifices  he  found  there. 

Previous  to  this  date,  however,  in  1534,  Father  Jacobo  de  Testera,  Avith 
four  other  missionaries,  proceeded  from  Tabasco  up  the  west  coast  to  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Bay  of  Campeachy.  They  were  received  amicably 
by  the  natives,  and  instructed  them  in  the  articles  of  the  Christian  faith. 
They  also  obtained  from  the  chiefs  a  submission  to  tlie  King  of  Spain;  and 
I  mention  this  eai'ly  missionary  expedition  for  the  fact  stated  that  each  chief 
signed  this  act  of  submission  "with  a  certain  mark,  like  an  autograph." 

'  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  iv,  cap.  viii. 


XX  INTKODITdTION. 

Tiiis  (locuinent  was  subseqaentlj^  taken  to  Spain  by  the  celebrated  Bishop 
Las  (Jasas/  It  is  clear  from  the  account  that  some  definite  form  of  signa- 
ture was  at  that  time  in  use  among  the  chiefs. 

It  might  be  objected  that  these  signatures  were  nothing  more  than  rude 
totem  marks,  such  as  were  found  even  among  the  hunting  tribes  of  the 
Northern  Mississippi  Valle}'.  But  Las  Casas  himself,  in  whose  jjossession 
the  documents  were,  here  comes  to  our  aid. to  refute  this  opinion.  Pie  was 
familiar  with  the  pictui'e-writing  of  Mexico,  and  recognized  in  the  hiero- 
glyphics of  the  Mayas  something  different  and  superior.  lie  says  expressly 
that  these  had  inscriptions,  writings,  in  certain  characters,  the  like  of  which 
were  found  nowhere  else.' 

One  of  the  earl}^  visitors  to  Yucatan  after  the  conquest  was  the  Pope's 
commissary-general.  Father  Alonzo  Ponce,  who  was  there  in  L^S.S.  Many 
natives  who  had  grown  to  adult  3-ears  in  heathenism  must  have  been  living 
then.     He  makes  the  following  interesting  observation : 

"  The  natives  of  Yucatan  are,  among  all  the  inhabitants  of  New  Spain, 
especially  deserving  of  praise  for  three  things:  First,  that  before  the  Span- 
iards came  they  made  use  of  characters  and  letters,  with  which  they  wrote 
out  their  histories,  their  ceremonies,  the  order  of  sacrifices  to  their  idols, 
and  their  calendars,  in  books  made  of  the  bark  of  a  certain  tree.  These 
were  on  very  long  strips,  a  quarter  or  a  third  (of  a  yard)  in  width,  doubled 
and  folded,  so  that  they  resembled  a  bound  book  in  quarto,  a  little  larger 
or  smaller.  These  letters  and  characters  Avere  understood  ordy  by  the 
priests  of  the  idols  (who  in  that  language  are  called  Ahkins)  and  a  few 
jirincipal  natives.  Afterwards  some  of  our  friars  learned  to  understand  and 
read  them,  and  even  wrote  them."^ 

The  interesting  fact  here  stated,  that  some  of  the  early  missionaries 

'"Se  sujetiiroii  de  su  propria  voluutad  al  Seuoriodo  los  Keies  de  Castilla,  rtcibiendo  al  Emperador, 
como  Rei  do  Espaua,  por  SeiSor  supremo  y  universal,  o  liieieron  ciertas  seuales,  como  Firmas ;  las  quales, 
con  testimouio  de  los  Eeligiosos  Frauciscos,  quo  alii  estal).iu,  llev6  eonsigo  cl  buen  Oljispo  de  Chiapa, 
Don  Fr.  Bartolome  do  las  Casas,  amparo,  y  defensa  do  cstos  Indios,  quaudo  se  fu(S  a  Espaua."  Torque- 
raada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  lib.  xix,  cap.  xiii. 

-  "Letrcros  do  ciertos  caracteres  que  eu  otra  uingnua  parte."  Las  Casas,  RMoria  apoloijetica  de 
las  Indias  Occidenlales,  cap.  cxxiii. 

^ lltlacion  Breve  y  Vcrdadera  de  Algnnas  Cosas  de  las  muchas  que  succdieron  al  Padre  Fray  Alonao 
Ponce,  Vommisaario  General,  en  las  Provincias  de  la  Xiiera  Espana,  in  the  Coleceion  de  Documentos para  la 
Historia  de  Espana,  torn.  Iviii,  p.  392.  The  other  traits  ho  jiraises  in  the  natives  of  Yucatan  are  their 
liecdom  from  .sodiiniv  and  cannibalism. 


INTEODUCTION.  xxi 

not  only  learned  to  read  these  characters,  but  emi)loyed  them  to  instruct 
the  Indians,  has  been  authenticated  by  a  recent  discovery  of  a  devotional 
work  written  in  this  way. 

The  earliest  historian  of  Yucatan  is  Fr.  Bernardo  de  Lizana/  But  I 
do  not  know  of  a  single  complete  copy  of  his  work,  and  only  one  imperfect 
copy,  which  is,  or  was,  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  from  which  the  Abbe  Bras- 
seur  (de  Bourbourg)  copied  and  republished  a  few  chapters.  Lizana  was 
himself  not  much  of  an  antiquary,  but  he  had  In  his  hands  the  Manuscripts 
left  by  Father  Alonso  de  Solana,  who  came  to  Yucatan  in  1 565,  and  remained 
there  till  his  death,  in  1599.  Solana  was  an  able  man,  acquired  thoroughly 
the  Maya  tongue,  and  left  in  his  writings  many  notes  on  the  antiquities 
of  the  country."  Therefore  we  may  put  considerable  confidence  in  what 
Lizana  writes  on  these  matters. 

The  reference  which  I  find  in  Lizana  to  the  Maya  writings  is  as  follows: 

"The  most  celel)rated  and  revered  sanctuary  in  this  land,  and  that  to 
which  they  resorted  from  all  parts,  was  this  town  and  temples  of  Y^tzamal, 
as  they  are  now  called ;  and  that  it  was  founded  in  most  ancient  times,  and 
that  it  is  still  known  who  did  found  it,  will  be  set  forth  in  the  next  chapter. 

"III.  The  histor}'  and  the  authorities  which  we  can  cite  are  certain 
ancient  characters,  scarcely  understood  by  many,  and  explained  by  some 
old  Indians,  sons  of  the  priests  of  their  gods,  who  alone  knew  how  to  read 
and  exponnd  them,  and  who  were  believed  in  and  revered  as  much  as  the 
gods  themselves,"  etc.^ 

We  have  here  the  positive  statement  that  these  hieroglyphic  inscrip- 
tions were  used  by  the  priests  for  recording  their  national  history,  and  that 
by  means  of  them  they  preserved  the  recollection  of  events  which  took 
place  in  a  very  remote  past. 

Another  valuable  early  witness,  who  testifies  to  the  same  eftect,  is  the} 
Dr.  Don  Pedro  Sanchez  de  Aguilar,  who  was  cura  of  Valladolid,  in  Yucatan, 

'  Bernardo  lie  Lizaun,  Risloria  de  Tucaian.  Demcionario  de  Xuesira  Senora  de  Izmal,y  Conquisia 
Espintual.    8vo.    Pincias  (Valladolid),  1083. 

'^ For  these  facts  see  Diego  Lopez  CogoHiido,  Historia  de  Yucatan,  lib.  ix,  caj).  xv.  Co2;oIludo 
adds  that  iu  his  time  (I650-'60)  Solaua's  MSS.  could  not  be  found ;  Lizaua  may  have  sent  them  to  Spain. 

^ I  add  the  original  of  the  most  important  passage :  "La  historia  y  autores  que  podenios  alegar 
sou  unos  autiguos  caracteres,  mal  entendidos  do  muchos,  y  glo-ssados  de  unos  indios  autiguos,  quo  son 
hijos  de  los  saccrdofcs  de  sus  dioses,  qiu;  son  los  que  solo  sabian  leer  y  .adi\  iuar,  y  a  quieu  creiau  rover- 
euciavau  como  a  Dioses  destos." 


xxii  INTRODUCTION. 

in  15.96,  and,  later,  dean  of  the  chapter  of  the  cathedral  at  Merida.  His 
book,  too,  is  extremely  scarce,  and  I  have  never  seen  a  copy;  but  I  have 
copious  extracts  from  it,  made  by  the  late  Dr.  C.  Hermann  Berendt  from  a 
copy  in  Yucatan.     Aguilar  writes  of  the  IWayas : 

■"They  had  books  made  from  the  bark  of  trees,  coated  with  a  white 
and  diu-able  varnish.  They  were  ten  or  twelve  yards  long,  and  were  gath- 
ered together  in  folds,  like  a  palm  leaf.  On  these  they  painted  in  colors  the 
reckoning  of  their  years,  wars,  pestilences,  hurricanes,  inundations,  famines, 
and  other  events.  From  one  of  these  books,  which  I  myself  took  from 
some  of  these  idolaters,  I  saw  and  learned  that  to  one  pestilence  they  gave 
the  name  3Iayacimil,  and  to  another  OcnakucMl,  which  mean  'sudden  deaths' 
and  'times  when  the  crows  enter  the  houses  to  eat  the  corpses.'  And  the 
inundation  they  called  Humjecil,  the  submersion  of  trees."  ^ 

The  writer  leaves  it  uncertain  whether  he  learned  these  words  directly 
from  the  characters  of  the  book  or  through  the  explanations  of  some  native. 

It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  the  early  Spanish  writers  drew  a  broad 
line  between  the  picture-writing  that  they  found  in  America  and  an  alpha- 
betic script.  This  may  be  true  of  other  parts,  but  is  not  so  of  Yucatan. 
These  signs,  or  some  of  them,  ai-e  repeatedly  referred  to  as  "letters,"  Idras. 

This  is  pointedly  the  case  with  Father  Gabriel  de  San  Buenaventura, 
a  French  Franciscan  who  served  in  Yucatan  about  1670-80.  He  pub- 
lished one  of  the  earliest  grammars  of  the  language,  and  also  composed 
a  dictionary  in  three  large  volumes,  which  was  not  printed.  Father  Beltran 
de  Santa  Rosa  qviotes  from  it  an  interesting  tradition  preserved  by  Buena- 
ventura, that  among  the  inventions  of  the  mythical  hero-god  of  the  natives, 
Itzanma,  or  K'micli  aliau,  was  that  of  ."  the  letters  of  the  Maya  language," 
with  which  letters  they  wrote  their  books.^  Itzamna,  of  course,  dates  back 
to  a  misty  antiquity,  but  the  legend  is  of  value,  as  showing  that  the  char- 
acters used  by  the  natives  did,  in  the  opinion  of  the  early  missionaries, 
deserve  the  name  of  letters. 

'  Pedro  Sanchez  de  Aguilar,  Informe  contra  Idolorum  cultores  del  OMspado  de  Yucatan.    4to.    Madrid, 

I6:i9,ff.  i24./\-ri^a/f ,  (ML  A\uJe«;AAttoH^''^fr.n  \//  \>(^'.  >  '?  ^ 

'"Elprimero  quo  halI6  las  letras  de  la  lengna  Maya61iiz6  el  cdniputo  delosauos,  meses  y  edades, 
y  lo  euseSo  todo  a  los  Indies  de  esta  Provincia,  fn6  un  Indio  llamado  Kincliahan,  y  por  otroiiombre 
Tzamna."  Fr.  Pedro  BcUrsn  do  Santa  Eosa  Maria,  Arte  del  Idioina  Maya,  p.  16  (2d  ed.,  Mdrida  de  Yuca- 
tan, 1850). 


INTRODUCTION.  Xxiii 

Father  Die^o  Lopez  Cogolludo  is  the  best-known  historian  of  Yucatan. 
He  lived  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  says  himself 
that  at  that  time  there  was  little  more  to  be  learned  about  the  antiquities  of 
the  race.  He  adds,  therefore,  substantially  nothing  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  subject,  although  he  repeats,  with  j^ositiveness,  the  statement  that  the 
natives  "had  characters  by  which  they  could  understand  each  other  in 
writing,  such  as  those  yet  seen  in  great  numbers  on  the  ruins  of  their 
buildings."  ^ 

This  is  not  very  full.  Yet  we  know  to  a  certainty  that  there  were 
quantities  of  these  manuscripts  in  use  in  Yucatan  for  a  generation  after 
Cogolludo  wrote.  To  be  sure,  those  in  the  christianized  districts  had  been 
destroyed,  wherever  the  priests  could  lay  their  hands  on  them;  but  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  jieniusula,  on  the  islands  of  Lake  Peten  and  adjoining 
territory,  the  powerful  chief,  Canek,  ruled  a  large  independent  tribe  of 
Itzas.  The}'  had  removed  from  the  northern  provinces  of  the  peninsula 
somewhere  about  1450,  probabl}'  in  consequence  of  the  wars  which  followed 
the  dissolution  of  the  confederacy  whose  capital  was  the  ancient  city  of 
Mayapan. 

Their  language  was  pure  Maya,  and  they  had  brought  with  them  in 
their  migration,  as  one  of  their  greatest  treasures,  the  sacred  books  which 
contained  their  ancient  history,  their  calendar  and  ritual,  and  the  prophecies 
of  their  future  fate.  In  the  year  1697  they  wei'e  attacked  by  the  Spaniards, 
under  General  Don  Martin  de  Ursua;  their  capital,  on  the  island  of  Flores, 
in  Lake  Peten,  taken  by  storm ;  great  numbers  of  them  slaughtered  or 
driven  into  the  lake  to  drown,  and  the  twenty-one  temples  which  were  on 
the  island  razed  to  the  ground. 

A  minute  and  trustworthy  account  of  these  events  has  been  given  by 
Don  Juan  de  Villagutieri'e  Soto-Mayor,  in  the  course  of  which  several 
references  to  the  sacred  books,  which  he  calls  Analtes,  occur.      ., 

The  king  Canek,  he  tells  us,  in  reading  in  his  Analtes,  had  found 
notices  of  the  northern  provinces  of  Yucatan  and  of  the  fact  that  his  pre- 

' Diego  Lopez  Cogolliulo,  Historia  de  Yucatan,  lib.  iv,  cap.  iii.  The  original  is:  "No  acostum- 
Ijraban  cscribir  los  pleitos,  aunijue  teuiau  caracteres  con  quo  so  eatoudiau,  do  que  so  veu  machos  eu  las 
luiiias  do  los  edificios." 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

decessors  had  couie  thence,  and  had  communicated  these  narratives  to  his 
chiefs.^ 

These  books  are  described  as  showing  "certain  characters  and  figures, 
painted  on  certain  barks  of  trees,  each  leaf  or  tablet  about  a  quarter  (of  a 
yard)  wide,  and  of  the  thickness  of  a  piece  of  eight,  folded  at  one  edge  and 
the  other  in  the  manner  of  a  screen,  called  by  them  AnaUehes."  - 

When  the  island  of  Flores  was  captured  these  books  ^vere  found  stored 
in  the  house  of  the  king  Canek,  containing  the  account  of  all  that  had 
happened  to  the  tribe.^  What  disposition  was  made  of  them  we  are  not 
informed. 

1  have  reserved  until  now  a  discussion  of  the  description  of  the  Maya 
writing  presented  in  the  well-known  work  of  Diego  de  Landa,  the  second 
bishop  of  Yucatan.  Landa  ai-rived  in  the  province  in  August,  1549,  and 
died  in  April,  1579,  having  passed  most  of  the  intervening  thirty  years  there 
in  the  discharge  of  his  religious  duties.  He  became  well  acquainted  with 
the  language,  which,  for  that  matter,  is  a  comparatively  easy  one,  and  though 
harsh,  illiberal,  and  bitterly  fanatic,  he  paid  a  certain  amount  of  attention 
to  the  arts,  religion,  and  history  of  the  ancient  inhabitants. 

The  notes  that  he  made  were  copied  after  his  death  and  reached  Spain, 
where  they  are  now  preserved  in  the  library  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
History,  Madrid.  In  1864  they  were  j^i^blished  at  Paris,  with  a  French 
translation,  by  the  Abbe  Brasseur  (de  Bourbourg). 

Of  all  writers  Landa  comes  the  nearest  telling  us  how  the  Mayas  used 
their  system  of  writing;  but,  unfortunately,  he  also  is  so  superficial  and 
obscure  that  his  words  have  given  rise  to  very  erroneous  theories.  His 
description  runs  as  follows: 

"This  people  also  used  certain  characters  or  letters,  with  which  they 
wrote  in  their  books  their  ancient  matters  and  their  sciences,  and  with  tliem 
(i.  e.,  with  their  characters  or  letters),  and  figures  (i.  e.,  drawings  or  pic- 

'  "Porqiie  lo  leia  su  Rey  en  sus  Analtehes,  tenian  Noticias  de  aijuellas  Pioviucias  de  Yucatan  (que 
Analteln'S,  6  Historias,  es  una  misma  cosa)  y  do  que  sus  Pasados  avian  Salido  de  ellas."  Hlstoria  de  la 
Conquista  de  la  Provincia  de  el  Itza,  Sidnccion  y  Progressos  de  la  de  el  Lacandon,  etc.  (folio,  Madrid,  1701) 
lib.  vi,  cap.  iv. 

-Iliid.,  lib.  vii,  cap.  i. 

2  "  Y  en  su  casa  tambion  tenia  de  estos  Idolos,  y  Messa  do  Sacrificios,  y  los  Analtcbes,  6  Historia.s 
do  todo  qnanto  los  avia  sucedido."    Ibid.,  lib.  viii,  cap.  xiii. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

tares),  and  some  -signs  in  the  figures,  they  understood  their  matters,  and 
could  explain  them  and  teach  them.  We  found  great  numbers  of  books  in 
these  letters,  but  as  they  contained  nothing  that  did  not  savor  of  superstition 
and  lies  of  the  devil  we  burnt  them  all,  at  wliicli  the  natives  grieved  most 
keenly  and  were  greatly  pained. 

"I  will  give  here  an  a,  h,  c,  as  their  clumsiness  does  not  allow  more, 
because  they  use  one  character  for  all  the  aspirations  of  the  letters,  and  for 
marking  the  parts  another,  and  thus  it  could  go  on  in  infinitijm,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  following  example.  Le  means  a  noose  and  to  hunt  with  one; 
to  write  it  in  their  characters,  after  we  had  made  them  understand  that  there 
are  two  letters,  they  wrote  it  with  three,  giving  to  the  aspiration  of  the  I  the 
vowel  e,  which  it  carries  before  it;  and  in  this  they  are  not  wrong  so  to  use 
it,  if  they  wish  to,  in  their  curious  manner.  After  this  they  add  to  the  end 
the  compound  part."^ 

I  need  not  pursue  the  quotation.  The  above  words  show  clearly  tliat 
the  natives  did  not  in  their  method  of  writing  analyze  a  word  to  its  primitive 
phonetic  elements.  "This,"  said  the  bishop,  "we  had  to  do  for  them."  There- 
fore they  did  not  have  an  alphabet  in  the  sense  of  the  word  as  we  use  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  clear,  from  his  words  and  examples, 
that  they  had  figures  which  represented  sounds,  and  that  they  combined 
these  and  added  a  determinative  or  an  ideogram  to  represent  words  or 
phrases. 

The  alphabet  he  gives  is,  of  course,  not  one  which  can  be  used  as  the 
Latin  a,  b,  c.  It  is  surprising  that  any  scholar  should  ever  have  thought  so. 
It  would  be  an  exception,  even  a  contradiction,  to  the  history  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  human  intelligence  to  find  such  an  alphabet  among  nations  of  the 
stage  of  cultivation  of  the  Mayas  or  Aztecs. 

The  severest  criticism  which  Landa's  figures  have  met  has  been  from 
the  pen  of  the  able  antiquary,  Dr.  Phillip  J.  J.  Valentini.  He  discovered 
that  many  of  the  sounds  of  the  Spanish  alphabet  were  represented  by 
signs  or  pictures  of  objects  whose  names  in  the  Maya  begin  with  that  sound. 
Thus  he  supposes  that  Landa  asked  an  Indian  to  write  in  the  native  char- 
acter the  Spanish  letter  a,  and  the  Indian  drew  an  obsidian  knife,  which, 

'  Diego  de  Landa,  Selacion  de  las  Cosas  de  Yucatan,  pp.  316,  318,  seq. 


XXVI  INTEODUGTION. 

says  Dr.  Valentini,  is  in  the  Maya  ach;  in  other  words,  it  begins  with  the 
vowel  a.  So  for  the  sound  /ri,  the  Indian  gave  the  sign  of  the  da}-  named 
kimich. 

Such  is  Dr.  Valentini's  theory  of  the  formation  of  Landa's  alphabet; 
and  not  satisfied  with  lashing  with  considerable  sharpness  those  who  have 
endeavored  by  its  aid  to  decipher  the  Manuscripts  and  mural  inscriptions, 
he  goes  so  far  as  to  term  it  "a  Spanish  fabrication." 

I  shall  not  enter  into  a  close  examination  of  Dr.  Valentini's  supposed 
identification  of  these  figures.  It  is  evident  that  it  has  been  done  by  run- 
ning over  the  Maya  dictionary  to  find  some  word  beginning  with  the  letter 
under  criticism,  the  figurative  representation  of  which  word  might  bear 
some  resemblance  to  Landa's  letter.  When  the  Maya  fails,  such  a  word  is 
sought  for  in  the  Kiche  or  other  dialect  of  the  stock;  and  the  resemblances 
of  the  pictures  to  the  supposed  originals  are  sometimes  greatly  strained. 

But  I  pass  by  these  dubious  methods  of  criticism  as  well  as  several 
lexicographic  objections  which  might  be  raised.  I  believe,  indeed,  that  Dr. 
Valentini  is  not  wrong  in  a  number  of  his  identifications.  But  the  conclu- 
sion I  draw  is  a  different  one.  Instead  of  proving  that  this  is  picture- 
writing,  it  indicates  that  -the  Mayas  used  the  second  or  higher  grade  of 
phonetic  syllabic  writing,  which,  as  I  have  before  observed,  has  been  sliown 
by  M.  Aubin  to  have  been  developed  to  some  extent  by  the  Aztecs  in  some 
of  their  histories  and  connected  compositions  (see  above  page  xxviii).  There- 
fore the  importance  and  authenticity  of  Landa's  alphabet  are,  I  think,  vin- 
dicated by  this  attempt  to  treat  it  as  a  "fabrication."^ 

Landa  also  gives  some  interesting  details  about  their  books.     He  writes: 

"The  sciences  that  they  taught  were  the  reckoning  of  the  years,  months, 
and  days,  the  feasts  and  ceremonies,  the  administration  of  their  sacraments, 
the  fatal  days  and  seasons,  their  methods  of  cHvination  and  prophecies, 
events  about  to  happen,  remedies  for  diseases,  their  ancient  history,  together 
with  the  art  of  reading  and  writing  tlieir  books  with  characters  which  were 
written,  and  pictures  which  represented  the  things  written. 

"They  wrote  their  books  on  a  large  sheet  doubled  into  folds,  which 

'Dr.  Valcutiiii's  article  was  imblisbcd  in  tlic  I'rocccdiiiijs  of  tlie  American  Aniiqiiaiian  Socicti/,  16S0, 
and  also  sei>aratel,v. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXVll 

was  afterwards  inclosed  between  two  boards  which  they  decorated  hand- 
somely. They  were  written  from  side  to  side  in  columns,  as  they  were 
folded.  They  manufactured  this  paper  from  the  root  of  a  tree  and  gave 
it  a  white  surface  on  which  one  could  write.  Some  of  the  principal  nobles 
cultivated  these  sciences  out  of  a  taste  for  them,  and  althougli  they  did  not 
make  public  use  of  them,  as  did  the  priests,  yet  they  were  the  more  highly 
esteemed  for  this  knowledge."^ 

Fi'om  the  above  extracts  from  Spanish  writers  we  may  infer  that — 

1.  The  Maya  graphic  system  was  recognized  from  the  first  to  be  dis- 
tinct from  the  Mexican. 

2.  It  was  a  hieroglyphic  system,  known  only  to  the  priests  and  a  few 
nobles. 

3.  It  was  employed  for  a  variety  of  purposes,  prominent  among  which 
was  the  preservation  of  their  history  and  calendar. 

4.  It  was  a  composite  system,  containing  pictures  {Jlguras),  ideograms 
(caraderes),  and  phonetic  signs  (letras). 


3.— REFERENCES  FROM  NATIVE  SOURCES. 

We  might  reasonably  expect  that  the  Maya  language  should  contain 
terms  relating  to  their  books  and  writings  which  would  throw  light  on 
their  methods.  So,  no  doubt,  it  did.  But  it  was  a  part  of  the  narrow  and 
crushing  policy  of  the  missionaries  not  only  to  destroy  everything  that 
related  to  the  times  of  heathendom,  but  even  to  drop  all  words  which 
referred  to  ancient  usages.  Hence  the  dictionaries  are  more  sterile  in  this 
respect  than  we  might  liave  supposed. 

The  verb  "to  write"  is  dzih,  which,  like  the  Greek  ypdcpeiv,  meant 
also  to  draw  and  to  paint.  From  this  are  derived  the  terms  (hiban,  some- 
thing written;  dzibal,  a  signature,  etc. 

Another  word,  meaning  to  write,  or  to  paint  in  black,  is  zahac.  As  a 
noun,  this  was  in  ancient  times  applied  to  a  black  fluid  extracted  from  the 
zahacclie,  a  species  of  tree,  and  used  for  dyeing  and  painting.     In  the  sense 

'Diogodo  Lanila,  Udacion  de  las  Coaas  tie  Yiica'.an,  p.  4'l. 


XXviii  INTKODUCTILN. 

of  "to  write,"  ^ahac  is  no  longer  found  in  the  lang-uage,  and  instead  of  its 
old  meaning  it  now  refers  to  ordinary  ink. 

The  word  for  letter  or  character  is  uooh.  This  is  a  primitive  root 
found  with  the  same  or  a  closely  allied  meaning  in  other  branches  of  this 
linguistic  stock,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Kiche  and  Cakchiquel.  As  a  verb, 
pret.  tiootah,  fut.  uootc,  it  also  means  to  form  letters,  to  write;  and  from  tlie 
passive  form,  itoohal,  we  have  the  participial  noun,  iioohun,  something  wi'it- 
ten,  a  manuscript. 

The  ordinary  word  for  book,  paper,  or  letter,  is  huun,  in  which  the 
aspirate  is  almost  mute,  and  is  dropped  in  the  forms  denoting  possession,  as 
u  mm,  my  book,  yuunil  Dios,  the  book  of  God,  il  being  the  so-called  "de- 
terminative" ending.  It  occurs  to  me  as  not  unlikely  that  uiin,  book,  is  a 
syncopated  form  of  uoolian,  something  written,  given  above.  To  read  a 
book  is  xochun,  literally  to  count  a  book. 

According  to  Villagutierre  Soto-Mayor,  the  name  of  the  sacred  books 
of  the  Itzas  was  analte.  In  the  printed  Diccionario  de  la  Lengiia  Maya,  by 
Don  Juan  Pio  Perez,  this  is  spelled  anakte,  which  seems  to  be  a  later  form. 

The  term  is  not  found  in  several  early  Maya  dictionaries  in  my  pos- 
session, of  dates  previous  to  1700.  The  Abbe  Brasseur,  indeed,  in  a  note 
to  Landa,  explains  it  to  mean  "a  book  of  wood,"  but  it  can  have  no  such 
signification.  Perhaps  it  should  read  huniltc,  this  being  composed  of  himil, 
the  "determinative"  form  of  huun,  a  book,  and  the  termination  tc,  which, 
added  to  nouns,  gives  them  a  specific  sense,  e.  g.  amayte,  a  square  figure, 
fi'om  amay,  an  angle;  tzucuhtt,  a  pi'ovince,  from  tzuc,  a  portion  separated 
fi'om  the  I'est.     It  would  mean  especiall}-  the  sacred  or  national  books. 

The  particular  class  of  books  which  were  occupied  with  the  calendar 
and  the  ritual  were  called  izolante,  which  is  a  participial  noun  from  the  verb 
twl,  passive  tzolal,  to  set  in  order,  to  arrange,  witli  the  sufiix  fe.  By  these 
books  were  set  in  order  and  arranged  the  various  festivals  and  fasts. 

When  the  conquest  was  an  accomplished  fact  and  the  priests  had  got 
the  upper  hand,  the  natives  did  not  dare  use  their  ancient  characters.  They 
exposed  themselves  to  the  suspicion  of  heresy  and  the  risk  of  being  burnt 
alive,  as  more  than  once  happened  But  their  strong  passion  for  literature 
remained,  and  they  gratified  it  as  far  as  thov  dared  by  writing  in  their  own 


INTRODUOTIOIf.  XX-IX 

tongue  with  the  Spanish  alphabet  vohimes  whose  contents  are  very  similar 
to  those  described  by  Landa  (above,  page  xxvi). 

A  number  of  these  are  still  in  existence  and  ofter  an  interesting  field 
for  antiquarian  and  linguistic  study.  Although,  as  I  say,  they  are  no  longer 
in  the  Maya  letters,  they  contain  quite  a  number  of  ideograms,  as  the  signs 
of  the  days  and  the  months,  and  occasional  cartouches  and  paintings,  which 
show  that  they  were  made  to  resemble  the  ancient  manuscripts  as  closely 
as  possible. 

They  also  contain  not  infrequent  references  to  the  "writing''  of  the 
ancients,  and  what  are  alleged  to  be  extracts  from  the  old  records,  chiefly 
of  a  mystic  character.  The  same  terms  are  employed  in  speaking  of  tlie 
ancient  graphic  system  as  of  the  present  one.  Thus  in  one  of  them,  known 
as  "The  Book  of  Chilan  Balam  of  Chumayel,"  occurs  this  phrase:  Bay 
chibanil  tumenel  Evangelistas  yetel  prof  eta  Balam — "as  it  was  written  by  the 
Evangelists,  and  also  by  the  prophet  Balam,"  this  Balam  being  one  of  their 
own  celebrated  ancient  seers. 

Among  the  predictions  preserved  from  a  time  anterior  to'the  Conquest, 
there  are  occasional  references  to  their  books  and  their  contents.  I  quote, 
as  an  example,  a  short  prophecy  attributed  to  Ahkul  Chel,  "priest  of  the 
idols."  It  is  found  in  several  of  the  oldest  Maya  manuscripts,  and  is  in  all 
probability  authentic,  as  it  contains  nothing  which  would  lead  us  to  suppose 
that  it  was  one  of  the  "pious  frauds"  of  the  missionaries. 

^'■Enhi  oihte  katime  ijume,  maixtan  a  naaU; 
Ualac  u  talel,  mac  hin  ca  oahac  tu  coo  pop; 
Katime  yume  hin  tduc,  holom  uil  tucal  ya ; 
Tali  ti  xaman,  tali  ti  childnc;  ahhinob  uil  yaiic  yume ; 
Mac  to  ahJdn,  mac  to  ahhohat,  bin  alic  u  than  uoohe, 
YcJiil  Bolon  Ahaii,  maixtan  d  naatef" 

"The  lord  of  the  cycle  has  been  written  down,  but  ye  will  not  under- 
stand ; 

He  has  come,  who  will  give  the  enrolling  of  the  years; 

The  lord  of  the  cycle  will  arrive?  he  will  come  on  account  of  his  love; 


XXX  INTEODUCTION. 

lie  came  from  the  north,  from  the  west.     There  are  priests,  there  are 
fathers, 

But  what  priest,  what  prophet,  shall  explain  the  words  of  the  books, 
In  the  Ninth  Ahau,  which  ye  will  not  understand?"^ 
From  this  designedly  obscure  chant  we  perceive  that  the  ancient  priests 
inscribed  their  predictions  in  books,  which  were  afterward  explained  to  the 
people.  The  exj)ression  bin  alic  u  than  uoohe — literally,  "he  will  speak  the 
words  of  the  letters" — seems  to  point  to  a  phonetic  writing,  but  as  it  may 
be  used  in  a  figurative  sense,  I  shall  not  lay  stress  on  it.^ 


4.— THE  EXISTING  CODICES. 

The  word  Codex  ought  to  be  confined,  in  American  archasology,  to 
manuscripts  in  the  original  writing  of  the  natives.  Some  writers  have 
spoken  of  the  "Codex  Chimalpopoca,"  the  "Codex  Zumarraga,"  and  the 
"Codex  Perez,"  which  are  nothing  more  than  manuscripts  either  in  the  native 
or  Spanish  tongues  written  Avith  the  Latin  alphabet. 

Of  the  Maya  Codices  known,  only  three  have  been  published,  which  I 
will  mention  in  the  order  of  their  appearance. 

The  Dresden  Codex. — This  is  an  important  Maya  manuscript  pi'eserved 
in  the  Royal  Library  at  Dresden.  How  or  when  it  came  to  Europe  is  not 
known.     It  was  obtained  from  some  unknown  person  in  Vienna  in  1739. 

'  I  add  a  few  notes  ou  this  text : 

Enlii  is  the  preterit  of  the  irregular  verb  hal,  to  be,  pret.  cnhi,  fat.  enac.  Katun  yum,  father  or 
lord  of  the  Katuu  or  cycle.  Each  Katun  was  uader  the  protection  of  a  special  deity  or  lord,  who  con- 
trolled the  events  which  occurred  in  it.  Tu,  coo  pop,  lit.,  "for  the  rolling  up  of  Pop,"  which  was  the 
first  month  in  the  Maya  year.  Holom  is  an  archaic  future  from  hul;  this  form  in  om  is  mentioned  by 
Buenaventura,  Arte  de  la  Lenejua  Maya,  1684,  and  is  frequent  in  the  sacred  language,  but  does  not  occur 
elsewhere.  Tucal  tja,  ou  account  of  his  love;  but  ya  means  also  "  suffering,"  "  wound,"  and  "strength," 
and  there  is  no  clue  which  of  these  significations  is  meant.  Ahkinoh;  the  original  has  tukinoh,  which  I 
8'jspect  is  an  error;  it  would  alter  the  phrase  to  mean  "In  that  day  there  are  fathers"or  lords,  the  word 
yum,  father,  being  constantly  used  for  lord  or  ruler.  The  ahkiti  was  the  priest ;  the  aA  Joiai  was  a  diviner 
ori)rophet.  The  9th  Ahau  Katuu  was  the  period  of  20  years  which  began  iu  1541,  according  to  most 
native  authors,  but  according  to  Landa's  reckoning  iu  the  year  15GI. 

2 In  quoting  and  explaining  Maya  words  and  phrases  in  this  article,  I  have  in  all  instances  io\- 
]ov.'edtho  Diccionario  Maya-Es2)anol  del  Convento  de  Molul  (Yucatan);  a  copy  of  which  in  manuscript 
(one  of  the  onlj'  two  in  existence)  is  iu  my  possession.  It  was  composed  about  1580.  The  still  olderM.aya 
dictionary  of  Father  Vill.alpando,  printed  in  Mexico  in  1571,  is  yet  in  existence  iu  one  or  two  cojiies,  but  i 
have  never  seen  it. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXI 

Tliis  Codex  corresponds  in  size,  appearance,  and  manner  of  folding  to 
the  descriptions  of  the  Maya  books  which  I  have  presented  above  from 
Spanish  sources.  It  has  thirty-nine  leaves,  thirty-five  of  v?hich  are  colored 
and  inscribed  on  both  sides,  and  four  on  one  side  only,  so  that  there  are 
only  seventy-four  pages  of  matter.  The  total  length  of  the  sheet  is  3.5 
meters,  and  the  height  of  each  page  is  0.2l'5  meter,  the  width  0.085  meter. 

The  first  publication  of  any  portion  of  this  Codex  was  by  Alexander 
von  Humboldt,  who  had  five  pages  of  it  copied  for  his  work,  Vues  des  Cor- 
cUUeres  et  Monmnens  des  Peiiples  Indigenes  de  V Amerique,  issued  at  Paris  in 
1813  (not  1810,  as  the  title-page  has  it).  It  was  next  very  carefully  copied 
in  full  by  the  Italian  artist,  Agostino  Aglio,  for  the  third  volume  of  Lord 
Kingsborongh's  great  work  on  Mexican  Antiquities,  the  first  volume  of  which 
appeared  in  1  831. 

From  Kingsborongh's  work  a  few  pages  of  the  Codex  have  been  from 
time  to  time  republished  in  other  books,  which  call  for  no  special  mention. 

Two  pages  were  copied  from  tlie  original  in  1855,  and  appeared  in 
Wuttke's  GeschicJde  der  Schriff,  Leipzig,  1872. 

Finally,  in  1880,  the  whole  was  very  admirably  chi-omo-photographed 
by  A.  Naumann's  establishment  at  Leipzig  to  the  number  of  fifty  copies, 
forty  of  which  were  placed  on  sale.  It  is  the  first  work  which  was  ever 
published  in  chromo-photography,  and  has,  therefore,  a  high  scientific  as 
well  as  antiquarian  interest. 

The  editor  was  Dr.  E.  Forstemann,  aulic  counselor  and  librarlan-in- 
chief  of  the  Royal  Library.  He  wrote  an  introduction  (17  pp.  4to)  giving 
a  history  of  the  manuscript,  and  bibliographical  and  other  notes  upon  it  of 
much  value.  One  opinion  he  defends  must  not  be  passed  b}'  in  silence.  It 
is  that  the  Dresden  Codex  is  not  one  but  parts  of  two  original  manuscripts 
written  by  diff"event  hands. 

It  appears  that  it  has  always  been  in  two  unequal  fragments,  which  all 
previous  writers  have  attributed  to  an  accidental  injury  to  the  original.  Dr. 
Forstemann  gives  a  number  of  reasons  for  believing  that  this  is  not  the  cor- 
rect explanation,  but  that  we  have  here  portions  of  two  different  books, 
having  general  similarity  but  also  many  points  of  diversity. 

Tins  separation  led  to  an  erroneous  (or  perhaps  erroneous)  sequence  of 


XXxii  INTRODUCTION. 

tlie  pages  in  Kingsborough's  edition.  The  artist  Aglio  took  first  one  frag- 
ment and  copied  both  sides,  and  tlien  proceeded  to  the  next  one;  and  it  is 
not  certain  that  in  either  case  he  begins  with  the  first  page  in  the  oi'iginal 
order  of  the  book. 

Tlte  Codex  Peresiamis,  or  Codex  Mexicanus,  No.  II,  of  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  of  Paris. — This  fragment — for  it  is  unfortunately  nothing  more — 
was  discovered  in  1859  by  Prof.  Leon  de  Rosny  among  a  mass  of  old  papers 
in  the  National  Library,  it  consists  of  eleven  leaves,  twenty-two  pages, 
each  9  inches  long  and  5^  inches  wide.  The  writing  is  very  much  defaced, 
but  was  evidently  of  a  highly  artistic  character,  probably  the  most  so  of 
an}"  manuscript  known.  It  unquestionably  belongs  to  the  Maya  manu- 
scripts. 

Its  origin  is  unknown.  The  papers  in  which  it  was  wrapped  bore  the 
•name  "Perez,"  in  a  Spanish  hand  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  hence  the 
name  "Peresianus"  was  given  it.  By  order  of  the  Minister  of  Public  In- 
struction ten  photographic  copies  of  this  Codex,  without  reduction,  were  pre- 
pai-ed  for  the  use  of  scholars.  None  of  them  was  placed  on  sale,  and  so 
far  as  I  know  the  only  one  Avhich  has  found  its  way  to  the  United  States  is 
that  in  my  own  library.  An  ordinary  lithographic  reproduction  was  given 
in  the  Archives  paleographiques  de  VOrient  et  de  V Amerique,  tome  i  (Paris, 
1869-'71). 

The  Codex  Tro,  or  Troano. — The  publication  of  this  valuable  Codex  we 
owe  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Abbd  Brasseur  (de  Bourbourg).  On  his  return 
from  Yucatan  in  18G4  he  visited  Madrid,  and  foiuid  this  Manuscript  in  the 
possession  of  Don  Juan  de  Tro  y  Ortolano,  professor  of  paleography,  and 
himself  a  descendant  of  Hernan  Cortes.  The  abb^  named  it  Troano,  as  a 
compound  of  the  two  names  of  its  former  owner;  but  later  writers  often 
content  themselves  by  referring  to  it  simply  as  the  Codex  Tro. 

It  consists  of  thirty-five  leaves  and  seventy  pages,  each  of  which  is 
larger  than  a  page  of  the  Dresden  Codex,  but  less  than  one  of  the  Codex 
Peresianus.  It  was  published  by  chromolithography  at  Paris,  in  1869, 
prefaced  by  a  study  on  the  graphic  system  of  the  Mayas  by  the  abbe,  and 
an  attempt  at  a  translation.  The  reproduction,  which  was  carried  out  under 
the  efficient  care  of  M.  Leonce  Angrand,  is  extremely  accurate. 

All  tlu-ee  of  these  codices  wer^  written  on  paper  manufactured  from 


INTEODUCTION,  XXxiii 

the  leaves  of  the  maguey  plant,  such  as  that  in  common  use  in  Mexico.  In 
Maya  the  maguey  is  called  ci,  the  vai'ieties  being  distinguished  by  various 
prefixes.  It  grows  luxuriantly  in  most  parts  of  Yucatan,  and  although  the 
favorite  tipple  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  was  mead,  they  were  not  unac- 
quainted with  the  intoxicating  pulque,  the  liquor  from  the  maguey,  if  we  can 
judge  from  their  word  for  a  drunkard,  ci-vinic  (vinic^man).  The  old  writers 
were  probably  in  error  when  they  spoke  of  the  books  being  made  of  the 
barks  of  trees;  or,  at  least,  they  were  not  all  of  that  kind. 

The  above-mentioned  three  Manuscripts  are  the  only  ones  which  have 
been  published.  I  shall  not  enumerate  those  which  exist  in  private  hands. 
So  long  as  they  are  withheld  from  the  examination  of  scientific  men  they 
can  add  nothing  to  the  general  stock  of  knowledge,  and  as  statements  about 
them  are  not  verifiable  it  is  useless  to  make  any.  I  may  merel}^  say  that 
there  are  two  in  Europe  and  two  or  three  in  Mexico,  which,  from  the 
descriptions  I  have  heard  or  read  of  them,  I  think  are  probably  of  Maya 
origin. 

In  addition  to  the  Manuscripts,  we  have  the  mural  paintings  and 
inscriptions  found  at  Palenque,  Copan,  Chichen  Itza,  and  various  ruined 
cities  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Maya-speaking  races.  There  is  no  mis- 
taking these  inscriptions.  They  are  unquestionably  of  the  same  character 
as  the  Manuscripts,  although  it  is  also  easy  to  perceive  variations,  which  are 
partly  owing  to  the  necessary  differences  in  technique  between  painting  and 
sculpture  ;  partly,  no  doubt,  to  the  separation  of  age  and  .time.  -> 

Photographs  and  "squeezes"  have  reproduced  many  of  these  inscrip- 
tions with  entii-e  fidelity.  We  can  also  depend  upon  the  accurate  pencil  of 
Catherwood,  whose  delineations  have  never  been  equalled.  But  the  pictures 
of  Waldeck  and  some  other  travelers  do  not  deserve  any  confidence,  and 
should  not  be  quoted  in  a  discussion  of  the  subject. 

Both  in  tlie  inscriptions,  manuscripts,  and  paintings  the  forms  of  the 
letters  are  rounded,  and  a  row  of  them  presents  the  outlines  of  a  number  of 
pebbles  cut  in  two.  Hence  the  system  of  writing  has  been  called  "  cal- 
culiform,"  from  calculus,  a  pebble.  The  expression  has  been  criticised, 
but  I  agree  with  Dr.  Forstemann  in  thinking  it  a  very  appropriate  one.  It 
was  suggested,  I  beliyve,  by  the  Abbu  Brasseur  (de  Bourbourg). 


Xxxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

5.— EFFORTS  AT  INTERPRETATION. 

The  study  of  the  Maya  hieroglyphic  system  is  still  in  its  infancy.  It 
is  only  two  years  since  an  unquestionably  faithful  reproduction  of  the 
Dresden  Codex  supplied  a  needed  standard  of  comparison  for  the  Codex 
Troano.  Some  knowledge  of  the  Maya  language,  if  not  indispensable,  is 
certainly  desirable  in  such  an  undertaking,  particularly  if  the  writing  is  in 
any  degree  phonetic.  But  it  was  not  tilj  1877  that  any  printed  dictionary 
of  that  tongue  could  be  had.  The  publication  of  the  Diccionario  de  la 
Lengua  Maya  of  Don  Juan  Pio  Perez  was  completed  in  that  year,  and, 
though  still  leaving  much  to  be  desired,  especially  in  reference  to  the  ancient 
forms  and  meanings  of  words,  it  is  a  creditable  monument  of  industry. 

When  the  Abb(i  Brasseur  edited  the  Codex  Troano  he  also  attempted  an 
explanation  of  its  contents.  He  went  so  far  as  to  give  an  interlinear  version 
of  some  pages,  and  wonderful  work  he  made  of  it!  But  I  am  relieved  of 
expressing  an  opinion  as  to  his  success  by  his  own  statement  in  a  later  work, 
that  he  had,  by  mistake,  commenced  at  the  end  of  the  Codex  instead  of  its 
beginning;  that  he  had  read  the  lines  from  right  to  left,  when  he  should 
have  read  them  from  left  to  right ;  and  that  his  translations  were  not  intended 
for  more  than  mere  experiments.^ 

The  attempt  at  a  translation  of  the  Dresden  Codex  by  Mr.  William 
BoUaert,  published  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  London, 
1870,  may  be  passed  over  for  the  same  reason.  He  also  "read  from  the 
bottom  upwards,  •and  from  right  to  left,"  and  his  renderings  were  altogether 
fanciful. 

The  first  who  addressed  himself  to  an  investigation  of  the  Maya 
hieroglyphics  with  anything  like  a  scientific  method  was  M.  Hyacinthe 
de  Charencey,  of  France.  I  append,  in  a  note,  a  list  of  his  essays  on  this 
subject,  with  their  dates,  so  far  as  I  know  thera.^     When  they  first  appeared 

'  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  BibliotMque  Mexico-Guatemalienne,  prdcedee  d'un  Coup  d'CEil  sur  les  Sttidea 
Americaines,  p.  xxvii,  note  (Paris,  1871). 

^ITyaciuthe  de  Charencej-,  ^ssoi  de  Deckifremeni  d'un  fragment  d^inscription  ralenqueenc,  in  the 
Actes  do  la  Soci6t6  Philologique,  mars  1870. 

Essai  de  Dichiffrement  d'un  fragment  dn  Manuscript  Troano,  in  the  Same  de  Philologie  et  d'Ethno- 
graphic,  Paris,  1875. 

The  above  two  were  republished  under  the  title:  £tudcs  de  Paleographie  Amcricaine;  Dichiffrement 
des  Ecritures  CalcuUformes  ou  Mayas. 

lieeherches  sur  le  Codex  Troano,  Paris,  Ernest  Leroux,  6diteur,  187(5,  6vo.,  p.  ItJ. 


INTKODUCTION.  XXXV 

I  translated  the  results,  and  gave  them  to  the  public  in  this  country  in  the 
same  year  (1870),  together  with  a  copy  of  the  alphabet  of  Landa,^  which 
was  the  earliest  notice  of  the  subject  which  appeared  in  the  United  States. 

The  .conclusion  which  M.  de  Charencey  reached  was  that  the  Codex 
Troano  is  "largely  made  up  of  combinations  of  numerals  and  reckonings 
more  or  less  complicated,  either  astronomical  or  astrological,  the  precise 
purpose  of  which  it  were  as  yet  premature  to  state."  He  especially  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  Plates  VIII  to  XIII,  and  showed  by  diagrams  the 
arrangement  in  them  of  the  signs  of  the  days,  and  the  probability  that  this 
arrangement  was  taken  from  a  "wheel,"  such  as  we  know  the  Mayas  were 
accustomed  to  use  in  adjusting  their  calendar. 

An  ingenious  and  suggestive  analysis  of  Landa's  alphabet  and  of  various 
figures  in  the  Dresden  and  Troano  Codices  was  carried  out  by  Dr.  Harrison 
Allen,  professor  of  comparative  anatomy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
It  was  published  in  1875,  in  the  Transactions  of  tlie  American  Philosophical 
Society. 

In  the  following  year  (1876)  appeared  the  first  part  of  Prof.  Leon  de 
Rosny's  Essai  sur  le  Dechiffrement  de  VEcriture  Hieratique  de  VAmerique  Cen- 
trale,  folio.  The  second  part  was  published  shortly  afterward,  but  the  third 
part  not  till  some  years  later.  Professor  de  Rosn}'  has  collected  many 
facts  which  throw  a  side  light  on  the  questions  he  discusses.  He  points 
out  that  the  signs  are  to  be  read  from  left  to  right;  he  gives  a  valuable  list 
of  variants  of  the  same  sign  as  it  appears  in  difterent  manuscripts;  and  he 
distinguishes  the  signs  of  the  cardinal  points,  although  it  is  doubtful  whether 
he  assigns  to  each  its  correct  value.  He  has  also  offered  strong  evidence 
to  fix  the  phonetic  value  of  some  characters.  Altogether,  his  work  ranks 
as  the  most  thorough  and  fruitful  which  has  heretofore  been  done  in  this  field. 

In  1879  Prof.  Charles  Rau  published,  through  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, his  work,  "The  I^Ienque  Tablet  in  the  United  States  National  Mu- 
seum, Washington."  Its  fifth  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  "aboriginal  writing  in 
Mexico,  Yucatan,  and  Central  America,"  and  ofi'ers  a  judicious  summary  of 
what  had  been  accomplished  up  to  that  date.     He  defends  the  position, 

'The  Ancient  Phonetic  Alphabet  of  Yucatan.  By  D.  G.  Brinton,  M.  D.  New  York,  J.  Sabin  & 
Sons,  1870,  8vo.,  p.  8. 


XXXvi  INTEODUCTION. 

which  I  think  is  unquestionably  the  con*ect  one,  that  the  Maya  writing  is 
certainly  something  more  than  systematized  picture-writing,  and  yet  that 
we  cannot  expect  to  find  in  it  anything  corresponding  to  our  own  alphabet. 

In  the  same  year  (1879)  Dr.  Carl  Schultz-Sellack  published  in  the 
Zeitsclirift  fur  Ethnologie,  Bd.,  XI,  th.eresults  of  some  studies  he  had  made 
of  the  Dresden  Codex,  compared  with  others  published  in  Kingsborough's 
work,  especially  with  reference  to  the  signs  of  the  gods  of  the  cardinal 
points.  He  recognized  the  same  signs  as  De  Rosny,  but  arranged  them 
differently.  Many  of  his  comparisons  of  Maya  with  Aztec  pictographs  are 
suggestive  and  merit  attentive  consideration;  but  he  speaks  a  great  deal  too 
confidently  of  their  supposed  close  relationship.^ 

Although  Dr.  Forstemann,  in  his  introductory  text  to  the  Dresden 
Codex  (1880),  expressly  disclaims  any  intention  to  set  up  as  an  exjiounder 
of  its  contents,  he  nevertheless  compared  carefully  the  three  published 
codices,  and  offers  (pp.  15-17)  a  number  of  acute  suggestions  and  striking 
comparisons,  which  the  future  student  must  by  no  means  overlook. 

Finally,  the  "Studies  in  American  Picture-Writing"  of  Prof.  Edward 
S.  Holden,  published  in  the  "First  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnol- 
ogy, 1881,"  are  to  be  included  in  the  list.  He  devotes  his  attention  princi- 
pally to  the  mural  inscriptions,  and  only  incidentally  to  the  Manuscripts. 
The  method  he  adopts  is  the  mathematical  one  employed  in  unriddling 
cryptography.  By  its  application  he  is  convinced  that  the  writing  is  from 
left  to  right,  and  from  above  downward;  that  the  signs  used  at  Copan  and 
Palenque  were  the  same,  and  had  the  same  meaning;  that  in  proper  names, 
at  least,  the  picture-writing  was  not  phonetic;  and  that  in  all  probability  it 
had  no  phonetic  elements  in  it  whatever. 

As  Professor  Holden  states  that  he  is  entirely  unacquainted  with  the 
Maya  language,  and  but  slightly  with  the  literature  of  the  subject;  as  his 
method  would  confessedly  not  apply  to  the  chara(fters,  if  phonetic,  without 
a  knowledge  of  the  Maya;  and  as  he  assumes  throughout  his  article  that 
the  mythology  and  attributes  of  the  Maya  divinities  were  the  same  as  those 
of  the  Aztec,  for  which  the  evidence  is  very  far  from  sufficient,  we  must 

'Dr.  Schultz-Sellack's  article  is  entitled  "Die  Amerikanischtn  Goiter  der  Vier  Wtltgegenden  und 
Hire  Tempel  in  Palvnque." 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXvii 

place  his  attempt  at  decipherment  along  with  others  which  have  failed 
through  an  inadequate  grasp  of  the  factors  of  the  problem.  Nevertheless, 
his  attentive  study  of  the  relative  positions  of  the  signs  have  yielded  results 
which  will  merit  the  thanks  of  future  students. 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


BY  CYRUS  THOMAS. 


CHAPTEll   I. 
THE  MANUSCRIPT  AND  ITS  CHARACTER. 

This  manuscript  was  found  about  the  year  1866,^  at  Madrid,  Spain,  by 
the  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg-,  while  on  a  visit  to  the  library  of  tlie 
Royal  Historical  Academy,  and  named  by  him  "Manuscrij^t  Troano,"  in 
honor  of  its  possessor,  Don  Juan  de  Tro  y  Ortolano. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  nothing  more  is  known  in  reference  to  its  history; 
we  are  not  even  informed  by  its  last  owner  where  or  how  he  obtained  it. 
In  ordinary  cases  this  would  be  sufficient  to  arouse  our  suspicions  as  to  its 
genuineness,  but  in  this  case  the  work  itself  is  sufficient  to  dispel  all  such 
suspicions,  a  fact  which  will  become  apparent  to  the  reader  before  reaching 
the  end  of  the  present  paper. 

This  work  was  reproduced  hi  facsimile  by  a  chromolithographic  process, 
by  the  Commission  Scientifiqac  du  Mex'ique  under  the  auspices  of  the  French 
Government,  Brasseur  being  the  editor. 

The  original  is  written  on  a  strip  of  Maguey  paper  about  14  feet  lono- 
and  9  inches  wide,  the  surface  of  which  is  covered  with  a  wliite  paint  or 
varnish,  on  which  the  cliaracters  and  figures  are  painted  in  black,  red,  blue, 
and  brown  It  is  folded  fan-like  into  thirty-five  folds,  presenting,  when 
these  are  pressed  together,  the  appearance  of  an  ordinary  octavo  volume. 
The  hieroglyphics  and  figures  cover  both  sides  of  the  paper,  forming 
seventy  pages;  the  writing  and  painting  of  the  figures  having  been  ex- 

•  I  cannot  find  that  tlie  exact  date  of  the  discovery  is  given  anywhere.     Bancroft  says  "about 
1805,"  but  a  c.treful  examination  of  Brasseur's  Introduction  satisfies  me  it  was  .at  least  as  late  as  1866. 
1   M  T 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 


edited,  apparently,  after  the  paper  was  folded,  so  that  this  does  not  interfere 
Avith  the  writing. 

The  facsimile  edition  is  divided  into  two  parts,  paged  separately;  the 
first  part  containing  thirty-five  pages  or  plates,  numbered  with  simple 
Roman  numerals  from  I  to  XXXV;  the  second  with  Roman  numerals 
accompanied  by  a  star,  thus:  XII*;  but  this  part  has  only  thirty-four 
pages,  numbei'ed  I*  to  XXXIV* ;  the  first  plate,  which  appears  to  be — as 
Brasseur  has  designated  it — the  "title  page,"  is  not  numbered. 

The  two  parts  I  presume  are  made  to  correspond  with  the  two  sides 
of  the  original;  the  title  page  being  at  the  end  of  one  side  and  forming  the 
page  on  the  first  fold. 

The  lines  and  columns  of  written  characters  are  uniformly  black,  some 
of  the  numeral  characters  red,  others  black;  the  pictorial  portions  are 
usually  red,  brown,  or  blue,  but  occasionally  varied  with  black,  and  often 
simply  outline  figures.  The  background  of  the  compartments  or  spaces 
on  which  the  figures  are  painted  is  usually  white,  but  in  some  cases  it  is 
blue,  in  others,  brown  or  red.  Several  of  the  plates  are  more  or  less 
damaged,  all  of  the  imperfections,  as  it  is  claimed,  being  reproduced  in  the 
facsimile  edition. 

Our  colored  plates,  which  are  reproduced  from  the  facsimile  work, 
will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  characters  and  figures. 

It  is  admitted  by  all  who  have  made  the  comparison,  that  the  written 
characters  belong  to  the  same  class  as  those  given  by  Landa. 

Although  there  are  numerous  variations,  and  also  some  characters  in 
the  manuscript  not  given  by  him,  yet  most  of  his  letter  and  day  characters, 
especially  the  latter,  can  be  found  identical  in  form  and  details.  As  proof 
of  this  I  give  here  the  following  examples  of  exact  copies  after  Landa  and 
the  Manuscript: 


L. 


Fig.  1.— Comparison  of  Landa's  cb.iracters  with  those  of  the  Troaiio  niaiinseript. 


THOMAS]  DAY  AND  NUMERAL  CHARACTERS.  3 

This  fact  is  sufficient  of  itself  to  authorize  us  to  pronounce  it  a  Maya 
document,  a  conclusion  which  we  shall  find  strengthened  as  we  proceed 
in  our  examination  of  its  contents. 

As  what  is  known  in  regard  to  Mexican  and  Central  American  writings 
has  been  presented  by  Dr.  Brinton  in  the  Introduction,  I  will  not  go  over 
the  same  ground  here,  but  will  confine  myseM"  to  the  special  object  in  view, 
to  wit:  an  explanation  and  discussion  of  what  I  believe  to  be  real  discov- 
eries made  during  my  examination  of  the  contents  of  this  work. 

As  before  stated,  an  examination  of  this  manuscript  is  sufficient  to 
convince  any  one  at  all  familiar  with  Landa's  characters  that  those  here 
used  are  substantially  the  same,  be  their  signification  what  it  may. 

On  almost  every  page  are  to  be  found  columns  of  characters  agreeing 
precisely  with  those  given  by  him  as  representing  the  Maya  days.  These 
are  generally  placed  at  the  left  of  the  compartments  or  spaces  containing 
the  figures,  and  as  a  general  rule  there  are  five  characters  in  a  column. 
Another  prominent  feature  is  the  great  number  of  numeral  characters — 
dots  and  short  straight  lines.  These  are  found  on  ever}^  plate,  often  dozens 
on  a  single  page. 

The  frequent  occurrence  of  these  day  and  numeral  characters,  often 
in  connection,  led  to  the  belief  that  the  work  was  a  kind  of  religious  cal- 
endar, a  belief  strongly  supported  by  the  character  of  the  figures  in  the 
spaces.  With  this  as  the  only  opinion  to  hamper  or  aid  me,  as  the  case 
might  be,  I  began  the  study  of  the  Manuscript. 

I  was  convinced  that  if  I  could  form  a  correct  idea  of  the  general 
design  of  the  work  it  would  aid  greatly  in  deciphering  its  characters.  As 
the  day  and  numeral  characters  seemed  to  afford  the  most  direct  road  to 
this  desired  result,  I  began  with  these. 

Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  has  designated  the  day  columns  "legends," 
believing  them  to  contain  a  summary  of  what  is  written,  or  represented  by 
the  figures  in  the  compartments  to  which  they  severally  belong. 

I'hat  they  are  characters  representing  the  Maya  days  he  admitted,  but 
as  the  names  of  these  characters  have  each  one  or  more  significations,  it 
was  his  belief  that  they  were  used  to  express  this  signification,  and  not 
simply  as  the  names  of  days. 


4  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

To  be  able  to  decide  jDOsitively  whether  this  opinion  of  the  Abbe's 
was  correct  or  not,  would,  I  felt,  be  taking  one  important  step  toward  ascer- 
taining the  contents  of  this  mysterious  document,  as  these  day  columns 
form  a  considerable  part  of  it. 

The  frequent  occurrence  of  numerals  in  connection  with  these  day 
characters  appeared  to  indicate  dates  or  the  numbering  of  days,  somewhat 
as  we  find  them  in  our  ordinary  calendars. 

How  to  verify  or  disprove  this  inference  was  the  first  problem  that 
presented  itself 


CHAPTER    II 


THE   MAYA   CALENDAR. 

The  Maya  divisions  of  time  (no  notice  is  taken  here  of  tlie  divisions 
of  the  day)  were  as  follows:  The  day,  the  week,  the  month,  the  year,  the 
five  intercalated  days,  the  week  of  years,  the  Ahau  or  Katun,  the  cycle  of 
fifty-two  years,  and  the  Ahau  Katun  or  gi'eat  epoch. 

The  day  ("Kin"  or  Sim)  was  used  in  the  ordinary  sense,  each  of  the 
twenty  days  of  the  month  having  its  name,  as  we  name  the  days  of  our 
week,  and  its  character  or  hieroglyph,  as  follows: 

KAN.  CHICCHAN,  CtM!.  MANIK.  LAMAT. 


Fig.  ■^.— l);n-  clianictcrs. 


The  characters  here  given  are  copied  from  Landa's  work,  our  only 
original  authority  on  this  point.  There  are  several  important  variations 
from  these  forms  found  in  the  Manuscript,  but  these,  the  orthography  of 
the  names  according  to  different  authors,  together  with  the  significations  of 
the  names,  have  been  given  by  others,  hence  will  not  be  repeated  here. 
Although  the  month  did  not  alwaj's  commence  with  the  same  day,  the  order 
of  the  days  as  here  given,  to  wit,   Kan,  Chicchan,  Cimi,  Manik,  Lamat, 


6 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCBirX  TKOANO. 


Muluc,  Oc,  Cliuen,  Eb,  Ben,  Ix,  Men,  Cib,  Caban,  Ezanab,  Cauac,  Ahau, 
Ymix,  Ik,  Akbal,  was  always  preserved.  For  example,  if  the  month  began 
with  Muluc,  the  second  day  would  be  Oc,  the  third  Chuen,  and  so  on  to 
Akbal;  then  followed  Kan,  just  as  we  would  name  seven  days  com- 
mencing, say,  with  Wednesday,  then  Thursday,  Friday,  Saturday,  Sunday, 
Monday,  &c. 

The  Maya  year  contained  365  days  and  consisted  of  two  unequal  pai-ts, 
as  follows:  360  days,  or  the  year  proper,  divided  into  eighteen  months  of 
twenty  days  each;  and  five  intercalary  days,  which  were  added  at  the  end 
in  order  to  complete  the  number  365. 

The  eighteen  months  were  named  and  numbered  as  follows: 
1.  Pop;  2.  Uo;  3.  Zip;  4.  Tzoz;  5.  Tzec;  6.  Xul;   7.  Yaxkin;  8.  Mol; 
9.  Chen;   10.  Yax;    11.  Zac;   12.  Ceh;  13.  Mac;  14.  Kankin;  15.  Muan;  16. 
Pax;   17.  Kayab;   18.  Cumhu. 


UO, 


ZIP. 


Tzoy.       Tzecv 


J.  «^♦<^ 


U'V 


Fu;.  3. — Month  characters. 

The  year  always  commenced  with  the  same  month — Pop — the  others 
invariably  following  in  the  order  given,  so  that  the  number  of  the  month 
being  given  we  know  its  name. 

But  eighteen  montlis  of  twenty  days  each  not  completing  the  year,  five 
days  were  added  after  the  close  of  Cumhu — not  as  a  part  of  that  month, 
for  no  month  could  have  either  more  or  less  than  twenty  days — to  complete 


THOMAS.]  METHOD  OF  NUMBERING  THE  DAYS.  7 

the  number  365,  and  were  called  "nameless  days"  (though  in  reality  named 
as  other  days),  and  were  considered  unlucky. 

If  the  year  began  with  Kan,  the  last  day  of  the  eighteenth  month — 
Cumhu — would,  as  a  matter  of  course,  be  Akbal,  the  last  of  the  twenty. 
The  five  intercalated  days  Avere  named  in  regular  order  following  the  last 
of  Cumhu,  and  in  this  case  would  be  Kan,  Chicchan,  Cimi,  Manik,  and 
Lamat.  The  next — Muluc — would  begin  the  new  year.  Muluc  being  the 
first  day  of  the  month,  Lamat  would  necessarily  be  the  last — the  five  added 
days  at  the  end  of  the  year  would  be  Muluc,  Oc,  Chuen,  Eb,  and  Ben, 
making  Ix  the  first  of  the  following  year.  Ix  being  the  first,  Ben  would  be 
the  last  of  Cumhu,  and  the  added  days  being  Ix,  Men,  Cib,  Caban,  and 
Ezanab,  Cauac  would  be  the  first  of  the  next  year,  the  added  days  would 
close  Avith  Akbal,  and  the  following  year  commence  with  Kan.  It  will  be 
seen  from  this,  that  the  year  always  commenced  with  one  of  the  four  days, 
Kan,  Muluc,  Ix,  Cauac,  following  each  other  regularly  in  the  order  given. 

If  these  were  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  system,  the  Maya  calendar 
would  be  comparatively  simple  and  easily  understood. 

But  another  method  of  numbering  the  days  was  introduced,  doubtless 
long  after  the  calendar  had  assumed  a  regular  foi'm,  and  probably  by  the 
priests,  for  the  purpose  of  complicating  it  and  rendering  it  as  far  as  possible 
unintelligible  to  the  people.  This  was  to  limit  the  number  to  thirteen,  or, 
in  other  words,  to  divide  the  year  into  periods  of  thirteen  days.  I  have  tW^h^i^ 
followed  other  modern  authors  in  calling  this  period  a  week,  though  it  ap- 
pears the  Mayas  gave  it  no  name,  nor  in  fact  do  they  seem  to  have  consid- 
ered it  a  period,  but  simply  a  method  of  numbering  the  days  and  years. 
As  there  were  twenty  names  of  days  to  be  used,  the  introduction  of  this 
system  of  thirteen  numerals,  as  the  one  chiefly  adopted  in  giving  dates, 
necessarily  greatly  complicated  the  calendar,  and,  together  with  the  inter- 
calation of  the  five  days  at  the  end  of  the  year,  produced  some  singular 
results. 

To  illustrate  this  I  give  first  a  list  of  days  for  one  month  (Table  No.  I) 
numbered  according  to  this  system,  following  it  with  a  table  (No.  II)  num- 
bered in  the  same  way  for  an  entire  year — something  after  the  manner  of 
our  common  countiuff-house  calendar. 


STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEirT  TROANO. 


J.  Kau.  (■      > 

2.  Chiccban.  (j,    ,    .     7.  Oc.  Iwdn-cUt 

3.  Ciini.  CAJHi  ,    8.  Chueu.  /-0C//vUt 

4.  Manik.  (UUh.^ttllm  9.  Eb.  cUi-  , 

5.  Lamat.  (  (-'■  10.  Beu.  CiiXiuM-'  \ 


Table  I. 
6.  Muliic.  liVi^iiviA'll.  Ix.  tr2-o»»L<t-iti' 
12.  Men.  wlaxUV^ 


13.  Gib.  A&a+6 


3.  Cauac.  tCT~C«^^t^^''*^' 

4.  Ahau.  H  t<^v 

5.  Ymix.  ftcj'aMy 


1.  Cabau.  r«^t-^^    ,6.  Ik.  <)We>-'uvi^ 

Ezauab.a<AWt4i'  7.  Akbal.  kmr.    '^ 


Table  II. 


Names  of  tlje 
months. 


Numbers  of 
tbo  months 


Names  of  the 
days. 

Kan 

Chicchan.. 

Clmi 

Manik 

Lamat 

Muluc 

Oc 

Chuen 

Eb 

Ben 

Ix 

Men 

Cib 

Caban  

Ezanab  

Cauac 

Ahau 

Ymix  ..... 

lli; 

Akbal 


It  will  be  seen  by  examining  this  table,  the 
year  in  this  case  commences  with  Kan,  the  other 
nineteen  days  following  in  regular  order  as  here- 
tofore given.  I'hey  are  numbered  regularly 
from  one  until  we  reach  thirteen,  then  we  com- 
mence again  with  one,  the  month  ending  with  Akbal  7. 


Kan 

Chicchan 

Cimi 

Manik . . . 
Lamat  .. 


NAMES  AND  NUMBERS  OF  THE  YEAKS. 


9 


The  second  mouth — Uo — begins  with  8  Kan;  when  we  reach  13,  which 
is  now  Muluc,  we  must  follow  it  with  1  Oc,  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the 
year.  The  last  day  of  Cumhu  in  this  case  will  be  9  Akbal  and  the  last  of 
the  five  intercalated  days  1  Lamat ;  it  follows  therefore  that  the  first  day  of 
the  next  year  will  be  2  Muluc.  If  we  rnn  through  this  second  year  in  the 
same  way,  commencing  it  with  2  Muluc  followed  by  3  Oc,  4  Clmen,  and  so 
on,  we  shall  find  that  the  third  year  will  begin  with  3  Ix;  continuing  this 
process  we  ascertain  that  the  fourth  commences  with  4  Cauac,  the  fifth  with  5 
Kan,  the  sixth  with  6  Muluc,  the  seventh  with  7  Ix,  the  eighth  with  8  Cauac, 
the  ninth  with  9  Kan,  the  tenth  with  10  Muluc,  the  eleventh  with  11  Ix,  the 
twelfth  with  12  Cauac,  the  thirteenth  with  13  Kan,  the  fourteenth  with  1 
Muluc,  the  fifteenth  with  2  Ix,  and  so  on.  From  this  we  see  that  no  year, 
after  the  first,  commences  with  a  day  numbered  1  until  thirteen  have  been 
completed,  thus  forming  a  period  of  13  years,  or  as  it  is  designated,  "A 
week  of  years"  or  "Indication."  By  continuing  the  above  process  we  shall 
find  that  no  year  will  again  commence  with  1  Kan  until  52,  (or  13X4,) — 
are  completed. 


Table  III. 


KAN  TABLE. 


Table  IV. 


CAUAC  TABLE. 


d 

c5 

o 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1* 

2 

3 

4 

5 

C 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

o 

d 

d 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1» 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

10  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

In  order  to  make  this  as  plain  as  possible  I  will  give  here  a  table  of 
years  for  one  cycle  of  52  years.  As  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  which  of 
the  two  years — 1  Kan  or  1  Cauac — the  cycle  began  with,  I  give  tables  (Nos. 
Ill  and  IV)  for  both. 

By  this  time  the  reader  is  sufficiently  conversant  with  this  sytem  to 
know  that  if  the  cycles  commence  with  1  Kan,  as  in  the  left-hand  table 
(No.  Ill),  the  year  following  13  Cauac  would  be  1  Kan  and  the  commence- 
ment of  another  cycle.  If  the  true  method  were  as  given  in  the  right-hand 
table  (No.  IV),  then  13  Ix  would  be  followed  by  1  Cauac,  the  first  year  of  the 
next  cycle.  This  follows,  as  will  readily  be  seen,  from  the  fact  that  52  is 
the  least  common  multiple  of  4  and  13. 

The  importance  of  knowing  which  one  of  these  arrangements  was  that 
used  by  the  Mayas  will  be  apparent  from  the  following  illustration:  A  cer- 
tain event  is  dated  a  particular  day  in  the  year  1  Ix;  if  the  table  we  have 
headed  1  Kan  be  correct  it  would  then  be  in  the  27th  year  of  the  cycle; 
if  the  other  be  the  true  method  it  would  then  be  in  the  40th  year  of  the 
cycle,  or  thirteen  years  later.  These  years  are  marked  with  a  star  in  Tables 
III  and  IV. 

As  this  system  admits  of  fifty-two  changes  in  the  day  on  which  the 
year  begins,  it  would  require  fifty-two  different  calendars  to  cover  one 
cycle,  just  as  fourteen  calendars  are  required  to  suit  all  the  years  of  our 
system,  seven  for  the  ordinary  years  and  seven  for  the  leap-years.  As  it 
would  require  much  time  and  space  to  write  these  out  in  full,  I  have  adopted 
the  expedient  shown  in  the  following  table  (No.  V),  of  abbreviating  the 
w^ork. 

First  we  have  at  the  left  four  columns,  each  containing  the  names  of 
the  twenty  days  of  the  month.  As  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  author 
of  the  manuscript  adopted  the  system  which  had  Cauac  as  the  fii'st  day  of 
the  cycle,  the  first  or  left-hand  column  commences  with  this  day,  the  others, 
Kan,  Muluc,  and  Ix,  following  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  found  in  the 
list  of  days.  The  first  column  is  therefore  the  one  to  be  used  for  all  the 
Cauac  years;  the  second  for  all  the  Kan  years;  the  third  for  all  the  Muluc 
years,  and  the  fourth  for  all  the  Ix  years.  The  reader  must  be  careful  to 
remember,  that  when  one  day  of  the  month  is  determined  it  determines  all 


CONDENSED  MAYA  CALENDAR. 


11 


the  rest,  and  as  a  consequence  all  the  rest  of  the  year;  therefore  when  we 
find  what  the  first  day  of  the  year  is,  we  can  easily  determine  any  day  of 
any  month.  As  each  of  the  four  leading  days  or  "year-bearers,"  as  they 
were  called  by  the  Mayas,  can  have  but  thirteen  different  numbers  it  is 
unnecessary  to  extend  our  columns  of  numbers  further  than  thirteen. 

Table  V. 


Cauac 
Abaa .. 
Tmix . , 
Ik 


Akbal  .... 

Kan 

Chicchan  . 

Cimi 

Manik 

Lamat  — 
Muluc 


Oc. 


Men 

Cib 

Caban  .. 
Ezanab  . 


Kan 

Obiccban. 

Cimi 

Manik  ... 

Lamat 

Muluc  — 


Oc. 


Ix 

Men 

Cib 

Caban . . 
Ezanab. 
Canac . . 
Aban  ... 
Tmix  .., 


Ik. 


Oc 

Cib 

Eb 

Ben 

Ezanab 

Ix 

Men 

Ahau 

Cib 

Tmix 

Caban . . 
Ezanab. 
Cauac .. 
Aban... 
Tmix  .. 


Ik 

Akbal.... 

Kan 

Cbiccban. 

Cimi 

Manik  ... 
Lamat 


Ik 

Akbal 

Kan 

Cbiccban.. 

Cimi 

Manik 

Lamat 

Muluc 


Oc. 


Nos.  of 

the 
montba. 


By  referring  to  the  table  No.  II  of  days  and  months  we  observe  that 
when  we  have  completed  the  thirteenth  column,  or  the  column  of  the 
thirteenth  month,  the  next,  or  fourteenth  month,  commences  with  1;  just  as 
the  first  month;  the  fifteenth  with  8,  as  the  second;  the  sixteenth  with  2,  as 
the  third;  the  seventeenth  with  9,  as  the  fourth;  and  the  eighteenth  with 
3,  as  the  fifth.  Instead  therefore  of  having  eighteen  columns  in  our  table, 
we  need  extend  it  only  so  as  to  include  the  thirteenth,  as  we  can  use  the 
first,  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  for  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  sixteenth, 
seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  months  respectively,  as  indicated  by  the  num- 
bers of  the  months  which  we  have  placed  above  the  table  over  the  figure 


12  A  STUDY  OP  TUE  MANUSGKIPT  TROANO. 

columns.  The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that,  althougli  we  have  numbered 
the  months  as  commencing  with  the  left-hand  column,  which  has  1  for  its 
uj)per  figure,  yet  this  only  holds  good  when  the  year  is  1  Cauac,  1  Kan,  1 
Muluc,  or  1  Ix,  and  for  none  of  the  other  years.  The  first  month  of  the 
year  may  be  any  one  of  the  thirteen  columns,  thus:  8  Cauac,  8  Kan,  8 
Muluc,  and  8  Ix  have  the  second  column,  which  has  8  for  its  upper  figure, 
as  their  first  month;  then  the  one  commencing  with  2  will  be  the  second 
month  column,  that  with  9  the  third,  with  3  the  fourth,  with  10  the  fifth, 
with  4  the  sixth,  with  11  the  seventh,  with  5  the  eighth,  with  12  the 
ninth,  with  6  the  tenth,  with  13  the  eleven-th,  the  last  or  one  commencing 
with  7  the  twelfth.  Now  we  go  back  to  the  first — commencing  with  1  — 
which  will  be  the  thirteenth,  with  8  the  fourteenth,  with  2  the  fifteenth, 
with  9  the  sixteenth,  with  3  the  seventeenth,  with  10  the  eighteenth.  Thus 
we  count  through  and  go  back  to  the  left,  and  so  continue  until  we  reacK 
the  number  of  the  month  desired.  We  will  now  illustrate  the  use  of  this 
table  by  some  examples,  but  first  we  must  warn  the  reader  not  to  confuse 
tlie  day  of  the  month  with  the  day  of  the  week;  the  numbers  of  the  days  of  the 
month  are  given  in  the  extreme  right-hand  column  of  the  table,  which  is 
not  counted  as  one  of  the  thirteen;  the  days  of  the  week,  as  heretofore 
stated,  are  always  given  thus:  3  Ymix,  12  Caban,  7  Oc,  &c. 

Now,  to  illustrate  the  method  of  using  the  table,  let  us  find  in  what 
months  and  on  what  days  of  the  months  in  the  years  11  Cauac,  11  Kan, 
11  Muluc,  and  11  Ix,  the  day  8  Ahau  will  fall.  For  the  year  11  Cauac 
we  must  look  to  the  Cauac  column.  We  find  here  that  Ahau  is  the  second 
day  of  the  month;  running  our  eyes  along  the  second  transverse  lin$, 
we  find  the  figure  8  in  the  thirteenth  column,  which  has  7  as  the  top  num- 
ber; going  back  to  the  column  which  has  11  as  the  upper  or  top  number 
and  counting  the  columns  up  to  this  (that  has  7  as  the  top  number),  we  find 
it  to  be  the  sixth  month.  We  thus  ascertain  that  8  Ahau  of  the  year  1 1 
Cauac  is  the  second  day  of  the  sixth  month.  To  find  where  it  falls  in  11 
Kan  we  must  first  find  Ahau  in  the  Kan  column.  By  running  our  eyes 
down  this  colunm  we  see  that  it  is  the  17th  day  of  the  month;  then,  by 
looking  along  the  1 7th  transverse  line  we  find  the  figure  8  to  be  in  the  col- 
umn which  has  5  at  the  top,  which  is  the  second  or  fifteenth  from  that  with 


THOMAS]  EXPLANATION  OF  CONDENSED  CALENDAR.  13 

11  at  the  top.  Therefore  8  Ahau  of  the  year  11  Kan  is  the  17th  day  of  the 
second  and  also  of  fifteenth  month.^ 

In  the  same  way  we  ascertain  that  8  Ahau  of  the  year  1 1  Muluc  is  the 
twelfth  day  of  the  twelfth  month,  but  in  this  case  we  have  to  count  the 
columns  from  the  one  commencing  with  11  (always  inclusive)  to  the  right, 
through  to  the  thirteenth  (tlie  one  with  7  at  the  top),  and  go  back  to  the 
first  and  count  up  to  the  one  in  which  we  find  the  figure  8  in  the  twelfth 
transverse  line.  We  also  find  that  8  Ahau  of  the  year  11  Ix  is  the  seventh 
day  of  the  ninth  month. 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  making  this  complicated  system  thus  far  intel- 
ligible to  the  reader,  I  may  hope  to  succeed  in  conveying  a  correct  idea  of 
what  is  to  follow. 

Now  let  us  test  our  arrangement  by  a  historical  example.  In  the  Perez 
manuscript  translated  by  Stephens  and  published  in  his  "Yucatan,"  Vol.  II, 
it  is  stated  that  one  Ajpula  died  in  the  year  4  Kan,  the  18th  day  of  the 
month  Zip,  on  9  Ymix. 

The  year  4  Kan  commences  with  the  column  of  our  table  which  has 

4  for  the  top  figure.     The  third  month  (Zip)  will  then  be  the  column  with 

5  at  the  top;  running  down  this  to  the  eighteenth  transverse  line  we  find 
the  figure  9;  we  also  observe  tliat  the  18th  day  in  the  Kan  column  of  the 
names  of  days  is  Ymix,  agreeing  exactly  with  the  date  given 

In  the  manuscript  Troano  there  is  another  method  of  giving  dates 
which    is    very    common    throughout   the    work.      Thus: 
which,  according  to    my  interpretation,  the   reasons   for 
which  will  be  hereafter  given,  signifies  13  Ahau  of  the 
thirteenth  month. 

As    neither   the  year    nor  the  day  of  the  month  is 
given,  it  is  evident  that  we  may  find  more  than  one  da}^ 
answering  to  this  date,  but  let  us  hunt  them  out  and  see 
where   they  fall.       Referring  to   our   table  we  will    first  take   the  Ahau 
of  the  Cauac  column,  which  is  in  the  second  transverse  line;   the  13  in 

'  The  reader  can  readily  see  from  the  table  why  any  day  found  in  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  or 
fifth  mouth  will  be  found  twice  in  the  year. 

2  As  colors  cannot  be  introduced  into  these  figures,  the  red  numerals  will  be  represented  in  out- 
line. 


14  A  STUDY  OF  TOE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

this  line  we  observe  is  in  the  tenth  cohimn  (12  at  top);  counting  back 
thirteen  months  (always  including  the  one  from  which  we  start),  we  find 
that  the  first  month  of  the  year  is  the  column  having  6  at  the  top.  The 
backward  counting  is  exactly  the  reverse  of  the  forward  method  heretofore 
explained;  count  to  the  left  until  the  first  column  is  reached,  then  go  back 
to  the  thirteenth. 

We  thus  ascertain  that  13  Ahau  of  the  13th  month  falls  on  the  second 
day  of  the  month  in  the  year  6  Cauac.  Proceeding  in  the  same  way  with 
the  Ahau  in  the  Kan,  Muluc,  and  Ix  columns,  we  obtain  the  seventeenth  day 
of  the  month  in  the  year  4  Kan,  twelfth  in  9  Muluc,  and  seventh  in  1  Ix. 
We  thus  ascertain  that  the  years  are  6  Cauac,  4  Kan,  9  Muluc,  and  1  Ix. 

If  we  examine  Table  III,  showing  the  years  of  the  cycle,  we  shall  find 
as  a  matter  of  course  that  these  years  occur  but  once  in  the  entire  period. 

In  order  apparently  to  further  complicate  this  calendar,  which  was 
undoubtedly  devised  by  the  priests,  as  Landa  says,  "to  deceive  that  simple 
people,"  another  period  called  the  Ahau  or  Katun  was  introduced.  This 
period,  according  to  most  authorities,  consisted  of  twenty  years,  but  accord- 
ing to  Perez  of  twenty-four.  It  is  in  reference  to  this  period  that  we  find 
the  chief  difference  between  authorities,  because  upon  the  proper  determina- 
tion of  its  length,  and  the  numbering,  depends  the  possibility  of  identifying 
dates  of  the  Maya  calendar  with  corresponding  ones  of  the  Christian  era. 
In  order  to  settle  these  points  it  is  necessary  not  only  to  determine  the  length 
of  the  Ahau  or  Katun,  but  also  the  number  of  Katunes  contained  in  the  great 
cycle,  the  method  in  which  they  were  numbered,  and  the  proper  position  of 
these  numbers  in  this  long  period.  Up  to  the  present  time  these  are  the 
rocks  on  which  all  the  calculations  have  been  wrecked.  My  chief  object, 
therefore,  so  far  as  the  calendar  is  concerned,  will  be  to  settle  if  possible 
these  disputed  points;  but  will  defer  the  discussion  of  these  questions  to  a 
subsequent  part  of  this  paper,  remarking  only  for  the  present  that,  accord- 
ing to  all  authorities,  these  Katunes  wei'e  numbered  as  Follows,  and  in  the 
order  here  given:  13,  11,  9,  7,  5,  3,  1,  12,  10,  8,  6,  4,  2;  this  number  com- 
pleting the  great  cycle  or  Ahau-Katun,'  which  consisted  of  260  years  if  the 

'I  use  this  compound  term  for  the  grand  cycle  only.  Eatun  iind  Ahau  are  used  separately  as 
equivalents  and  as  applying  only  to  the  period  of" 20  or  24  years;  Ci/cle  for  the  period  of  52  years. 


THOMAsi  USE  OF  DAT  AND  NUMEEAL  CHARACTERS.  15 

Katun  included  only  20  years,  but  of  312  if  it  contained  24  years,  as  main- 
tained by  Perez. 

"We  are  now  prepared  to  discuss  the  question  presented  as  to  whether 
the  numerals  and  day  characters  found  so  frequently  in  connection  with 
each  other  are  simply  dates,  somewhat  as  we  find  them  in  our  ordinary 
calendars,  or  not.  The  first  point  to  be  determined  is  whether  these  day 
characters  are  used  simply  to  denote  days,  or  because  of  the  signification 
of  the  words,  as  Brasseur  supposed.  This,  as  will  be  readily  perceived,  also 
involves  the  important  question  as  to  whether  Landa  was  correct  in  his 
statement,  that  they  were  the  symbols  or  characters  used  to  denote  days. 

The  argument  must  therefore  be  somewhat  in  a  circle;  hence  the  evi- 
dence adduced  must  be  strong  to  support  the  position  assumed,  and  must 
agree  in  the  essential  points  with  the  Maya  calendar  so  far  as  positively 
determined. 

In  order  to  decide  this  point  we  now  turn  to  the  manuscript  itself. 

Referring  to  Plate  X  we  find  that  the  left-hand  column  of  the  middle 
division  (always  reading  from  the  top  downwards)  is  composed  of  the  char- 
acters representing  the  following  Maya  days,  in  the  order  here  given:  Oc, 
Cib,  Ik,  Lamat,  Ix.  If  we  turn  to  Table  V,  containing  the  list  of  days,  and 
count  on  either  of  the  four  columns  of  names,  from  one  of  these  names  to 
the  next,  we  shall  find  in  each  case  an  interval  of  just  six  days:  from  Oc  to 
Cib  six  days;  from  Cib  to  Ik  six  days,  and  so  on.  The  other  column,  same 
plate  and  division,  is  composed  of  the  characters  for  Ahau,  Cimi,  Eb,  Eza- 
nab,  and  Kan,  with  an  interval  of  six  days  between  each  two.  Turning 
now  to  Plate  VI,  middle  division,  we  find  the  days  in  the  left-hand  column 
to  be  Caban,  Ik,  Manik,  Eb,  and  Caban,  with  an  interval  of  just  five  days 
between  each  two.  In  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XVII  the  interval  is 
twelve  days;  and  the  same  is  true  in  reference  to  the  other  columns  on  this 
plate.  In  the  left-hand  column  of  the  third  division  of  Plate  XXXI  the 
interval  is  sixteen  days. 

Although  the  interval  is  generally  the  same  throughout  a  column,  yet 
there  are  occasional  departures  from  this  rule;  for  example,  on  Plate  XIII, 
the  left-hand  column  of  the  upper  division  is  composed  of  the  characters  for 


16  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

the  following-  days:  Kan,  Oc,  Cib,  Ahau,  and  Ik.  From  Kan  to  Oc  is  an 
interval  of  six  days;  from  Oc  to  Cib  six;  from  Cib  to  Aliau  four;  from 
Ahau  to  Ik  two 

Here  we  may  be  allowed  to  digress  for  a  moment  from  the  direct  line 
of  our  argument  in  order  to  show  how  the  discovery  of  this  fact  may  enable 
us  to  determine  an  uncertain  or  obliterated  character.^  The  right-hand 
column  of  the  middle  division  of  this  plate  (XlII)  contains  an  unusual 
character  bearing  little  if  any  resemblance  to  any  of  Landa's  day  characters. 
The  days  of  this  column,  in  the  order  they  stand,  are  as  follows:  Oc,  Ik, 

Ix,  lo\^|)  ^i"**!  Ezanab.     From  Oc  to  Ik  is  an  interval  of  twelve  days;  from 

Ik  to  Ix  twelve  days;  from  Ix  to  !(Cimi)  twelve  days,  and  from  Cimi  to 
Ezanab  twelve  days.  We  may  therefore  feel  pretty  well  assured  that  this 
unusual  character  is  a  variant  of  Cimi^  and  not  of  Ahau,  as  Brasseur 
supposed.^ 

The  right-hand  column  of  the  lower  division  of  the  same  plate  contains 
the  same  unusual  character  which,  if  counted  as  Cimi,  gives  an  interval  of 
six  days  between  each  two. 

This  regularity  in  the  order  of  the  days  is  sufficient  to  prove,  beA'ond 
any  reasonable  doubt,  that  they  were  not  used  on  account  of  the  significa- 
tion of  the  words.  In  some  cases  the  combination,  if  interpreted  according 
to  the  usual  meaning  of  the  words,  ma)',  by  a  somewhat  strained  interpre- 
tation, be  formed  into  a  sentence,  but  such  cases  are  exceedingly  rare,  only 
one  having,  so  far,  been  observed,  and  here  it  is  purely  accidental. 

The  agreement  between  the  characters  found  in  the  Manuscript  and 
the  order  of  the  days  as  found  in  the  Maya  calendar  is  also  a  strong  proof 
that  Landa  was  correct  in  the  characters  assigned  and  in  the  order  of  the 
days  as  he  has  given  them.  It  would  be  impossible  *to  find  such  a  large 
number  of  agreements — more  than  200  columns  and  over  1,000  days — if 
Landa  were  wrong  in  either  respect,  or  if  we  were  wrong  in  our  interpre- 

'  This  was  ■written  before  I  had  seen  Charency's  papers  on  this  subject. 

2 In  a  plate  of  the  "Book  of  Chilan  Balam  of  Kuua,"  copied  by  Dr.  Brinton  in  his  article  on  the 
Books  of  Chilan  Balam,  presented  to  the  Num  s.  and  Antiq.  Soc.  of  Phila.,  Jan.,  1882,  p.  16,  one  character 
for  Lamat  differs  from  this  only  in  the  middle  stroke  sloping  to  the  left  instead  of  to  the  right  as  this 
does.     Leon  do  Rosny  (Essay  Dechiff.  Ecrit.  Hierat.,  1st  Livr.,  17)  intei-prets  it  as  I  do. 

'Nor  of  Caban  as  interpreted  by  Charency  (Dechif.  des  Ecrit.  Calcul,  Mayas,  &c.,  1879,  p.  20). 


TiioMAs.i  NUMERAL  CHARACTERS.  17 

tation.     1  sliall  therefore  consider  the  following  points  settled,  and  shall 
henceforth  proceed  upon  that  basis: 

1st.  That  the  Manuscript  is  a  Maya  document. 

2d.  That  Landa  has  given  the  order  of  the  days  and  their  symbols 
correctly. 

3d.  That  the  day  characters  in  these  colunms  are  used  simply  to  indi- 
cate the  days  they  represent,  and  not  the  signification  of  the  words. 

It  is  now  generally  conceded  by  all  who  have  studied  these  hiero- 
glyphics that  the  Maya  method  of  designating  numbers  was  by  the  use  of 
lines  and  dots,  thus:  one  dot  signifying  1,  two  dots  2,  and  so  on  up  to  4; 
that  five  was  represented  by  a  single  short  straight  line;  ten  by  two  lines, 
and  so  on.  According  to  this  system,  a  straight  line  and  a  dot,  thus  ■  *  ■ 
would  signify  6 ;  two  straight  lines  and  two  dots,  thus  »*!  *  ■ ,  would  stand 
for  12. 

As  heretofore  remarked,  these  numeral  characters  are  found  on  every 
page  of  the  manuscript,  and  if  we  judge  by  the  color,  some  being  red  and 
others  black,  they  belong  to  two  different  classes,  or  at  least  are  used  for 
two  different  purposes.  As  they  are  generally  associated  with  the  day 
characters,  the  latter  in  fact  never  being  without  them,  the  natural  inference 
is  that  they  are  used  to  denote  dates. 

As  there  are  two  classes,  it  is  not  probable  that  more  than  one  of  these 
is  used  to  number  the  days. 

If  we  examine  the  red  numerals  on  all  the  plates  of  the  manuscript, 
we  shall  find  that — except  on  the  title-page,  which  is  evidently  peculiar — 
they  never  indicate  a  greater  number  than  13  (there  is  one  apparent  ex- 
ception where  the  number  appears  to  be  fourteen,  but  the  additional  dot  is 
imperfect,  and  is  either  a  blotch  or  evident  mistake).     In  some  places  we 

O    O  G 
find  such  red  numerals  as  this  f  •       j^  ,  apparently  denoting  14,  but  a  more 

o 

careful  study  of  the  plates  on  which  these  are  found  satisfies  me  that  there 

are  two  numbers   here,   13  and  1.     Fi'om  this  fact  I  infer  that  the  red 

numerals  are  used  here  to  designate  the  days  or  years  of  the  Maya  week, 

which,  as  I  have  shown,  consisted  of  thirteen  days  or  years,  especially  in 

the  computation  of  time  in  reference  to  religious  feasts  and  ceremonies. 

2   M   T 


18 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


But  there  is  still  stronger  evidence  on  this  point,  which  I  will  now 
introduce. 

For  this  purpose  I  will  have  to  ask  the  reader  to  observe  carefully 


Table  VI. 


Table  VII. 


1 

1 

hi 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

-JL 

8 

9 

|10 

11 

12 

13  1 

!  1 

2 

3 

4  ; 

!'  5 

6 

7 

8i 

\    ^ 

10 

11 

12  1 

I  13 

1 

2 

si 

:  4 

5 

6 

7  Is 

;  8 

9 

10 

11  ! 

1  12 

13 

1 

2  1 

3 

4 

5 

6  1 

>  7 

8 

9 

10  I 

i  11 

12 

13 

1   j< 

'  2 

3 

4 

s.ii 

\     6 

7 

^ 

_9J 

10 

fe^ 

.12 

13 

i 

1 

^ 

i 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

o 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

^ 

J 

10^ 

hi 

12 

13 

i  ^ 

3 

4 

b\ 

<  ^ 

7 

8 

^\ 

>10 

11 

12 

13  > 

>  1 

2 

3 

4> 

I   5 

6 

7 

8< 

9 

10 

11 

12  > 

as 

1 

2 

3< 

\  ^ 

5 

6 

7 

\  ^ 

9 

10 

11 1 

>12 

13 

1 

2> 

\  ^ 

4 

5 

6^ 

?11 

^ 

A 

10 

1 

jl2 

13 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

shall  be  able  to  explain  this  mystery. 


our  colored  Plates  I,  II,  III,  and 
IV,  which  are  exact  copies  of  XX- 
XXIII  of  the  Manuscript.  He  will 
notice  that  the  extreme  left-hand 
column  of  Plate  IV  (Man.  XXIII) 
contains  only  the  character  for 
Cauac,  which  is  repeated  thirteen 
times,  and  that  over  each  is  a  red 
numeral.  Near  the  top  are  certain 
other  characters  with  which  we 
have  nothing-  to  do  at  present. 

Commencing  with  the  upper 
Cauac  and  moving  down  the  col- 
umn we  find  the  numbers  over 
them,  so  far  as  they  can  be  made 
out,  as  follows:  10,  1,  5,  9,  13,  4,  8, 
12,  (?),  7,  (?),  2,  6.  If  these  num- 
bers relate  here  to  the  days  of 
the  week,  why  this  peculiar  order? 
If  we  refer  to  Table  II  of  the  days 
of  the  months  and  year,  and  run 
our  eyes  along  the  ti'ansverse  line 
opposite  Cauac,  we  shall  find  the 
order  to  be  as  follows:  1,  8,  2,  9, 
3,  10,  4,  11,  5,  12,  6,  13,  7,  wholly 
different  from  what  we  see  here.  If 
we  construct  a  table  of  years  simi- 
lar to  those  already  given  (III  and 
IV),  but  extended  over  two  com- 
plete cycles  of  52  years  each,  we 
We  give  here,  for  the  reasons  here- 


THOMAS]  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  RED  NUMERALS.  19 

tofore  stated,  two  tables,  one  with  Cauac  as  the  initial  day  (VI)  and  the 
other  with  Kan  (VII).  Running  our  eyes  down  the  Cauac  column  of  either 
table  to  H',  we  find  thirteen  numbers  from  this  downwards,  as  follows,  and 
in  the  order  here  given:  10,  !,  5,  9,  13,  4,  8,  12,  3,  7,  11,  2,  6,  precisely  as 
they  are  on  the  plate  of  the  manuscript. 

On  Plate  XXII  (our  Plate  III)  the  repeated  character  of  the  left-hand 
column  is  Kan,  the  numerals  over  which  (reading  from  the  top  downwards) 
are  as  follows :  11,  2,  6,  10,  1,  5,  9,  ("?),  4,  8,  12,  3,  7,  11,  precisely  the  same 
and  in  the  same  order  as  we  find  them  in  the  Kan  column  of  our  tables ; 
the  obliterated  one  being,  as  we  see  from  this,  13.  On  Plate  XX  (our 
Plate  I)  the  repeated  character  of  the  left-hand  column  is  Tx.  The  num- 
bers here,  so  far  as  they  can  be  made  out,  are  13,  (?),  8,  12,  3,  7,  11,  2,  6, 
10,  1,  5,  9,  precisely  the  same  and  in  the  same  order  as  in  the  Ix  column 
of  our  tables. 

The  repeated  character  on  Plate  XXI  (our  Plate  II)  is  Muluc;  the 
numbers  are  12,  3,  6,  10,  1,  5,  9,  13,  4,  8,  2,  7,  3.  If  we  compare  these  with 
the  Muluc  column  of  our  tables,  we  find  that  after  the  first  two  numbers 
there  is  a  skip  of  three  numbers  before  we  reach  the  6  which  should  follow 
according  to  the  plate.  But  what  appears  here  as  a  contradiction  of  my 
supposition  is,  as  I  believe,  the  strongest  evidence  of  its  correctness.  If  we 
examine  the  tables  carefully  we  will  observe  that  after  reaching  the  second 
figure, — 3, — in  the  Muluc  column,  the  next  figure  in  the  adjoining  column 
is  6,  and  from  thence  to  8  the  same  as  on  the  plate.  From  this  I  am  led  to 
believe  the  writer  had  before  him  a  table  similar  to  those  I  have  given,  except 
that  it  was  written  in  their  numeral  characters,  and  that,  by  mistake  in 
copying,  his  eye  fell  on  the  wrong  column.  That  such  tables  were  used 
by  them  is  rendered  probable  by  the  following  quotation  which  Perez  makes 
from  an  ancient  manuscript  in  his  possession:  "They  had  another  number 
which  they  called  Ua  Katun,  which  served  them  as  a  key  to  find  the  Katunes 
and  according  to  the  order  of  their  march,  it  falls  on  the  two  days  of  the 
Umjebhaah  and  revolves  to  the  end  of  certain  years:  Katunes  13,  9,  f>,  1, 
10,  6,  2,  11,  7,  3,  12,  8,  4."  By  commencing  at  the  bottom  of  the  right- 
hand  column  of  either  table  of  years  and  running  up  we  find  precisely  these 
numbers  and  in  the  order  given.  It  is  scarcely  possible  these  could  have 
been  obtained  except  by  a  table  similar  to  those  I  have  given. 


20  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

We  know  that  tables  of  days  of  this  form  are  to  be  foiind  in  some  two 
or  three  of  the  Mexican  Codices;  something  similar  is  also  to  be  found  in 
the  Dresden  Codex,  and  by  placing  the  columns  of  these  four  plates  of  the 
Manuscript  side  by  side  we  will  have  just  such  a  table.^ 

But  be  this  as  it  may,  the  exact  agreement  in  the  other  three  cohimns, 
and  the  fact  that  the  years  named  and  numbered  appear  to  belong  to  one 
contmuous  period  of  time — an  all-important  point  in  this  connection — show, 
as  we  think,  conclusively  that  our  explanation  of  these  numerals  and  the 
day  characters,  and  of  the  use  here  made  of  them,  is  correct.  If  so,  then 
the  red  numerals  are  used  to  number  the  days  and  years  of  the  week,  or, 
in  other  words,  to  number  the  days  and  years  exactly  as  the  various  writei's 
have  stated  was  the  usual  custom.  We  have  marked  this  period  on  the 
tables  of  j^ears  with  waved  lines  so  as  to  be  seen  at  a  glance,  as  we  shall 
have  occasion  hereafter  to  refer  to  it. 

As  further  proof  that  these  red  numerals  are  limited  to  the  thirteen 
series,  I  now  call  attention  to  certain  short  columns  found  in-  the  middle 
division  of  Plates  VII*-X*.  These  consist  of  three  days  each — Cib,  Caban, 
and  Ezanab — and  each  day  has  a  numeral  over  i't,  as  follows  (I  give  here 
the  exact  order  in  which  they  stand  on  the  plates,  although  I  have  doubts 
as  to  the  correctness  of  Brasseur's  paging) : 


6. 

Cib. 

13. 
Cib. 

4. 

Cib. 

11. 
Cib. 

Cib. 

12. 

Cib. 

2. 

Cib. 

Caban. 

1. 
Caban. 

Caban. 

1-2. 

Caban. 

11. 
Caban. 

13. 
Caban. 

3. 
Caban. 

8. 
Ezanab. 

2. 
Ezanab. 

c. 
Ezanab. 

13. 

Ezanab. 

7. 

Ezanab. 

1. 
Ezanab. 

4. 

Ezanab. 

'  Since  the  above  was  writteD,  I  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  procnre  a  copy  of  Leon  De  Eosny's 
Essai  anr  le  Dechiffrement  de  L'Ecriture  Bieratique  de  L'Jmeriqtie  Centrale,  in  which  I  find  a  copy  of  a 
plate  of  the  Codex  Coktesianus,  and  also  of  one  plate  of  the  Codex  Peresianus.  In  the  former  is 
part  of  a  table  of  days  arranged  precisely  as  in  my  table,  except  that  they  are  placed  horizontally,  as 
here  shown,  instead  of  in  columns: 


Muluc. 

I  e. 

Chucu. 

Eb. 

Been. 

Ix. 

Men. 

Cib. 

Caban. 

Is. 

Men. 

Cib. 

Caban. 

Ezanab. 

Cauac. 

Ah  an. 

Imix. 

Ik. 

Cauac. 

Ahaii. 

Ymix. 

Ik. 

Akbal. 

Kan. 

Chicchau. 

Cimi. 

Maijik 

Kan. 

Chicchau. 

Cimi. 

Mauik. 

Lamat. 

Muluc. 

Oc. 

Chucn. 

Eb. 

Whether  or  not  this  fragment  contains  the  commencement,  I  am  unable  to  say;  that  it  does  i.ot 
contain  the  conclusion,  I  am  satisfied.  We  have  here  proof  that  the  order  when  in  lines  is  from  the 
left  to  the  right.  The  other  plate  (from  the  Codex  Peresianus)  contains  a  column  similar  to  those  in 
the  fourplates  of  the  Manuscript  Troano,  but  here  the  repeated  day  {Been)  is  the  last  of  one  of  the  years 
as  in  the  Dresden  Codex. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  BLACK  NUMERALS.  21 


9. 
Gib. 

3. 

Cib. 

10. 

Cib. 

7. 

Cib. 

]. 
Cib. 

8. 

Cib. 

111. 
Cabaii. 

4. 

Oaban. 

11. 
Oaban. 

8. 
Cabau. 

2. 

Caban. 

9. 

Oaban. 

11. 
Ezanab. 

5. 
Ezanab. 

12. 
Ezanab. 

9. 
Ezanab. 

3. 
Ezanab. 

10. 
Ezanab. 

If  we  turn  to  our  condensed  calendar,  Table  V,  we  see  that  these  three 
days  follow  each  other  as  shown  here,  and  by  examining  the  different 
columns  we  can  find  all  the  numbers  here  given.  This  fact,  together  with 
the  method  of  numbering,  is  sufficient  of  itself  to  establish  the  correctness 
of  the  opinion  I  have  advanced  in  reference  to  these  red  numerals.  ♦ 

That  thev  are  here  used  to  number  the  days  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  they  are  applied  to  those  days  which  are  never  used  to  name  the  years. 
From  what  has  been  shown  in  reference  to  Plates  XX-XXIII  (our  Plates 
I,  II,  III,  and  IV)  we  see  that  they  are  also  used  to  denote  the  years  of  the 
week  or  "Indication." 

The  next  point  to  be  determined  is  the  use  of  the  black  numerals.  Here 
we  shall  find  the  task  more  difficult,  but  it  is  necessary  to  determine  this 
before  we  can  proceed  in  our  effort  to  fix  the  dates,  which  are  given  in  great 
numbers  in  the  Manuscript,  and  by  means  of  which  we  hope  to  settle  the 
disputed  points  in  regard  to  the  calendar. 

I  shall  at  present  omit  any  reference  to  the  "title-page,"  which,  as 
I  have  said,  is  peculiar,  and  cannot  therefore  be  used  in  the  present  inves- 
tigation. As  we  find  repeatedly  throughout  the  work  black  numeral  char- 
acters denoting  14,  15,  16,  17,  and  18,  it  is  evident  they  do  not  refer  to  the 
days  or  years  of  the  week.  They  must  therefore  be  used  to  denote  the 
numbers  of  the  months,  or  of  the  days  of  the  months.  That  they  are  not 
used  to  number  the  Ahaues  or  the  years  of  these  periods  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  these  are  always  numbered  by  the  thirteen  series,  or,  in  other 
words,  never  have  applied  to  them  any  number  exceeding-  13;  the  years 
are  also  designated  by  the  four  days  Cauac,  Kan,  Muluc,  and  Ix. 

But  in  order  that  the  reader  may  see  clearly  the  difficulty  of  deciding 
this  point  satisfactorily  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  illustrate  it  by  exam- 
ples from  the  Manuscript. 

As  before  mentioned,  the  day  cliaracters  are  nearly  always  in  columns — 


22  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

usually  of  five  chai'acters  each — at  the  left  of  the  compartments  or  spaces, 
0000  each  column  usually  with  a  red  numeral  over  it.    For  exam- 

ple, in  the  lowest  division  of  V*  the  column  consists  of  five 
characters,  as  shown  here  (Fig.  5),  which  denote  the  days 
(reading  from  the  top  downward)  Oc,  Ik,  Ix,  Cimi,  and 
Ezanab.  The  red  numeral  at  the  top  is  9.  The  black  nu- 
meral at  the  side  in  the  space  is  three  lines  or  15.  (In  this 
case  there  is  but  one  of  these  black  numerals  in  the  space 
or  compartment,  but  usually  there  are  several,  and  also 
several  red  ones.)  Now,  I  take  for  granted  that  placing  the 
red  numeral  at  the  top  of  the  column  is  equivalent  to  apply- 
ing it  to  each  day  in  the  column,  thus:  9  Oc,  9  Ik,  9  Ix, 
!)  Cimi,  and  9  Ezanab.  There  is  also  one  red  numeral — 
Fig.  5.  13 — in  the  space,  as  shown  in  the  annexed  cut. 

Leaving  this  last  out  of  consideration  for  the  present,  let  us  proceed 
upon  the  supposition  that  the  black  numeral  signifies  the  day  of  the  month. 
Examining  our  condensed  calendar  (Table  V),  we  see  that  of  the  five  days 
Ezanab  is  the  only  one  that  ever  falls  on  the  15th  of  the  month.  As  this 
will  be  found  true  of  at  least  two  columns  out  of  every  three  throughout 
the  Manuscript  it  is  apparent  that  these  numerals  are  not  used  here  for  this 
purpose;  but  even  could  all  be  found  on  the  proper  day  of  the  month  we 
would  still  be  without  any  fixed  date.  Take,  for  instance,  Ezanab  in  this 
case,  which  does  fall  on  the  15th  day  of  the  month  in  the  years  commenc- 
ing with  Kan;  the  figure  9  in  the  fifteenth  transverse  line  is  found  in  the 
second  column.  What  month?  In  the  year  I  Kan  it  is  in  the  second 
month,  in  the  year  8  Kan  it  is  in  the  first  month,  in  the  year  2  Kan  it  is  in 
the  thirteenth  month,  and  so  on  throughout  the  thirteen  Kan  years.  Some 
may  contend  that  it  was  not  the  intention  to  fix  the  years,  as  this  is  possi- 
bly the  date  of  some  feast  or  religious  ceremony  to  be  observed  each  year. 
I  answer  that,  laying  aside  the  insuperable  objection  already  given,  even 
this  supposition  would  be  erroneous — first,  because  in  the  case  before  us 
Ezanab  falls  on  the  IStli  day  of  the  month  only  once  ever}-  four  years,  and 
Avith  each  year  the  month  is  changed.     But  it  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  this 


THOMAS.)  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  BLACK  NUMERALS.  23 

supposition  further,  as  not  one  day  out  of  three  ever  falls  on  the  day  given 
if  these  black  numerals  denote  the  days  of  the  month. 

We  will  next  proceed  on  the  supposition  that  these  indicate  the  months. 
In  that  (?ase  the  dates  given  in  the  present  example  will  be  9  Oc,  9  Ik,  9  Ix, 
9  Cimi,  and  9  Ezanab  of  the  15th  month  (Muan).  In  this  the  feast,  relig- 
ious ceremony,  or  whatever  the  date  refers  to,  occurs  always  in  the  same 
month,  and  so  far  agrees  with  what  is  left  on  record  in  reference  to  religious 
ceremonies  and  observances.  As  only  the  day  and  month  are  given,  it  is 
possible,  as  heretofore  stated,  to  find  four  dates  to  each  day.  Now,  let  us 
hunt  out,  by  the  use  of  our  condensed  calendar,  the  years  on  which  these 
several  dates  fall.  Commencing  with  9  Oc,  we  look  first  for  this  day  in  the 
Cauac  column ;  having  found  it  to  be  the  twelfth  day  of  the  month,  we  run 
our  eyes  along  the  twelfth  transverse  line  of  figures  until  we  reach  the 
figure  9,  which  we  find  to  be  in  the  eighth  column  (the  one  with  11  at  the 
top) ;  counting  back  fifteen  months  (including  the  one  9  is  in)  we  reach  the 
column  with  4  at  the  top  The  year  is  therefore  4  Cauac.  We  next  find 
Oc  in  the  Kan  column;  it  is  here  the  seventh  day  of  the  month,  and  9  is  in 
the  fifth  column  (the  one  with  3  at  the  top);  counting  back  fifteen  months 
(going  towards  the  left  until  we  reach  the  first  column,  and  then  to  the  thir- 
teenth, and  moving  back  toward  the  left),  we  reach  the  fourth  column  (with 
9  at  the  top).  The  year  is  therefore  9  Kan.  We  next  find  Oc  in  the  Muluc 
column,  and  by  the  same  process  obtain  the  year  1  Muluc.  Next  we  find 
Oc  in  the  Ix  column,  and  by  the  same  process  ascertain  the  year  to  be  12  Ix. 

Pursuing  the  same  method  with  the  other  days,  we  obtain  the  following 
i-esult: 


9  Oc. 

9  Ik. 

9/x. 

9  Cimi. 

9  Ezanab. 

Years . . 

. .  4  Cauac. 

12  Cauac. 

13  Cauac. 

8  Cauac. 

9  Cauac. 

Years . . 

. .   9  Kan. 

10  Kan. 

T)  Kan. 

Vi  Kan. 

1  Kan. 

Years . . 

. .   1  Muluc. 

2  Muluc. 

10  Muluc. 

11  Muluc. 

6  Muluc. 

Years . . 

.  .12Ix. 

7  ix. 

2Ix. 

;j  Ix. 

11  Ix. 

Now,  let  us  construct  a  table  (No.  VIII)  of  years  for  one  cycle,  as  this 
includes  all  possible  variations  in  the  numbers  and  names  of  the  years,  and 
see  where  those  obtained  will  fall.  Marking  each  of  the  years  with  a  star, 
we  find  that  they  belong  to  one  continuous  period.  So  far  the  result  is 
favorable,  and  what  will  probably  attract  the  attention  of  those  who  have 


24 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


devoted  some  time  to  the  study  of  this  subject  is  the  fact  that  the  period 
embraced  is  precisely  that  which  is  supposed  by  most  authorities  to  con- 
stitute one  Ahau.  But  let  me  here  wai-n  such  reader  against  a  too  hasty 
conclusion. 

Supposing  we  are  so  far  correct,  what  use  are  we  to  make  of  the  red 
numeral — 13 — in  the  space!  Let  us  suppose  that  it  is  also  to  be  applied  to 
the  days  as  the  other  red  numeral,  using  the  same  month.  This  gives  us 
the  following  years: 


i:!  Oc. 
Years  ...  8  Cauac. 
Years. . .  .13  Kan. 

Years 5  Muluc. 

Years  ...  3  Ix. 


13  Ik. 
3  Cauac. 
1  Kan. 
6- Muluc. 
11  Is. 


VA  Ix. 

4  Cauac. 
9  Kan. 
1  Muluc. 
6Ix. 


i:{  Cimi. 

12  Cauac. 

4  Kan. 

2  Muluc. 

7  Ix. 


13  Ezanab. 
13  Cauac. 

5  Kau. 
10  Muluc. 

2  Ix. 


If  we  attempt  to  locate  these  in  the  same  cycle  as  the  preceding  period, 

Table  VIII.         ^^®  rshall  find  that  the  two  clash  with  each  other — that 

is,  that  some  of  the  years  of  the  first  are  the  same  as 

some  of  the  second;  but  it  is  evident  they  may  be  located 

in  another  cycle. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  discussion  of 
this  difficult  question,  we  must  remind  the  reader  of 
what  possibly  he  has  already  inferred — that  in  our 
allusion  to  the  "intervals'"  between  the  days  of  the  col- 
umns, our  object  then  was  simply  to  show  a  regularity 
not  consistent  with  the  idea  that  they  were  used  on 
account  of  the  signification  of  the  words,  and  not  to 
lead  him  to  suppose  that  the  real  interval  intended  was 
only  the  number  of  days  mentioned.  We  also  wish  to 
call  his  attention  to  another  fact  which  is  becoming  more 
and  more  apparent  as  we  proceed — that  the  regularity 
of  the  intervals  which  seems  apparent,  whatever  may 
be  our  final  conclusion  as  to  what  the  black  numerals 
refer  to,  and  the  great  number  of  dates  as  compared  witli 
the  text,  preclude  the  supposition  that  the  work  is  historical.  I  shall  there- 
fore proceed  upon  the  theory  that  it  is,  to  a  large  extent  at  least,  a  kind  of 
religious  calendar — not  with  any  particular  desire  to  maintain  this  opinion, 


i 

1 

1— ( 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

^ 

8 

r^ 

10* 

11* 

12*^ 

13* 

1* 

2* 

3*< 

I    4* 

5* 

6* 

7* 

I  ^* 

9* 

10* 

11*1 

\j£. 

™ 

^ 

2*5 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

THOMAS.)    METHOD  OF  FINDING  DATEiS  INDICATED  BY  NUMERALS. 


25 


but  simply  because  I  find  the  evidence  pointing-  in  this  direction,  and  also 
that  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  advance  farther  without  having  some  theory. 


Table  IX. 


From  what  has  been  shown  it  is  apparent  that  the 
interpretation  I  have  given  is  a  possible  one,  the  chief 
objections  to  which  are,  first,  the  large  number  of  dates 
in  the  Manuscript  that  this  plan  would  give  us,  which, 
according  to  a  rough  calculation  I  have  made,  would 
amount  to  something  like  ten  thousand;  second,  the  ex- 
tent of  time  these  dates  must  necessarily  cover,  which 
cannot  be  less  than  one  great  cycle  of  312  years. 

The  Dresden  Codex,  which  is  evidently  similar  in 
character  to  the  Manuscript  Troano,  presents,  if  possi- 
ble, still  greater  difficulties  to  the  settlement  of  this  ques- 
tion, as  here  we  find  the  black  numeral  for  19  frequently 
connected  directly  with  the  red  ones.  But  so  far  as  I 
have  examined  dates  of  this  kind  they  do  not  appear  to 
be  necessarily  associated  with  the  day  characters  on  the 
same  page.  In  this  codex  the  dates  are  also  much  more 
numerous  than  in  the  Tro.  Ms.,  a  number  of  pages  being 
filled  almost  exclusively  with  numerals  and  day  charac- 
ters. Month  characters  are  also  introduced ;  hence  it  is 
probable  the  day  of  the  month  is  often  given. 

On  page  II  (Tro.  Ms.),  in  the  left  column,  middle 
division  (see  fig.  99),  the  days  (counting  from  the  top 
downwards)  are  Manik,  Cauac,^  Chuen,  Akbal,  Men, 
the  red  numeral  over  the  column  1.  In  the  space  are  three  black  nume- 
rals 6,  11,  and  9,  also  two  red  ones  10  and  3.  Using  the  red  1  and  the 
black  6,  as  heretofore,  we  find  the  5^ears  to  be  as  follows: 


6 

o 

M 

c5 

1— 1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 
13 

10 

11 

12 

\    1* 

2* 

3*; 

;    4* 

5* 

G* 

7*; 

j    8* 

9* 

10* 

11*; 

il2* 

13* 

1* 

2* 

1    ^* 

4* 

5*     6*: 

i    8 

9 

10 

11 

|l2* 

13* 

1* 

2*i     3* 

4* 

5* 

6* 

7* 

8* 

9* 

10* 

11* 

12* 

13* 

1* 

5* 

2* 

3* 

4* 

6 
10 

7 
11 

8 
12 

9 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

1  Masih. 

1  Caiiac. 

1  Chucit. 

1  Akbal. 

1  Men. 

Tears .  - 

. .  10  Gauac. 

5  Gauac. 

«  Gauac. 

1  Gauac. 

2  Gauac. 

Years . . 

. .   2  Kan. 

3  Kan. 

11  Kan. 

12  Kan. 

7  Kan. 

Years . . 

.  .  13  Muluc. 

8  Muluc. 

3  Muluc. 

4  Muluc. 

12  Muluc. 

Years. - 

..  5Ix. 

13  Ix. 

1  Ix. 

9Ix. 

4Ix. 

The  period  is  found  to  be  continuous,  and  is  surrounded  on  the  annexed 
table  (No.  IX)  by  a  continuous  dark  line.     In  this  case  it  commences  with 


'  Cauac  is  ropresentod  here  by  an  unusual  character. 


26  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TKOANO. 

Kail.  If  we  use  the  red  3  and  the  black  6  the  result  will  be  as  shown  in 
the  group  surrounded  on  the  table  by  the  dotted  line.  As  the  reader  is 
perhaps  by  this  tinife  aware,  it  might  be  located  beloAV  the  first  by  extending 
the  table,  but  still  would  give  us  no  clue  to  the  proper  position  of  the 
Ahaues. 

There  are  two  other  possible  sujjpositions,  to  wit:  that  the  red  numeral 
over  the  column  refers  to  the  number  of  the  Ahau,  and  that  in  the  space  to 
the  number  of  the  days;  and,  second,  just  the  reverse  of  this,  that  the  red 
number  in  the  space  refers  to  the  Ahau  and  that  over  the  column  to  the 
number  of  the  daj-s,  the  black  one  in  each  case  denoting  the  number  of  the 
month. 

As  it  will  be  impossible  for  us  to  decide  in  reference  to  these  supposi- 
tions until  we  can  locate  the  Ahaues  and  determine  their  numbers,  I  will 
]30stpone  further  discussion  of  the  point  for  the  present,  proceeding  for  the 
time  being  upon  the  only  plan  so  far  found  consistent  with  what  is  known 
of  the  Maya  calendar. 

As  heretofore  stated,  the  greater  number  of  the  day  columns  contain 
just  five  characters.  Why  this  number!  If  we  use  the  numerals  as  shown 
by  the  above  examples,  this  will  give  us  for  each  red  numeral  twenty  years, 
agreeing  with  the  number  counted  to  the  Ahau,  whether  we  follow  most 
authorities  or  Perez;  for,  according  to  the  latter,  who  holds  that  there  are 
twenty  four  years  in  this  period,  only  twenty  are  usually  "counted";  four 
being  generally  omitted  as  unlucky,  or  for  some  other  reason.  That  some- 
thing of  this  kind,  arising  from  the  system  itself,  was  the  cause  of  placing 
five  days  in  so  many  columns  is  more  than  probable.  If  I  am  correct  in 
this  supposition,  it  not  only  agrees  with  the  method  of  using  the  numerals 
above  suggested,  but  it  will  also  determine  the  years  that  form  the  different 
Ahaues. 

Following  up  this  suggestion,  let  us  see  if  it  is  possible  to  determine 
from  the  Manuscript  the  length  of  the  Ahau  as  understood  by  the  author. 

As  the  most  likely  method  of  deciding  this  question,  I  will  select  a 
number  of  the  day  columns,  find  from  them  the  years  indicated  according  to 
the  plan  heretofore  given,  and  locate  them  in  tables  of  years.  We  can  then 
see  what  relation  tliev  bear  to  each  other. 


THOMAS.)    METHOD  OF  FINDING  DATES  INDICATED  BY  NUMERALS.        27 


o  O  O 


Table  X. 


The  first  I  select  is  found  in  the  lower  division  of  Plate  XXVI.  The 
column  is  as  here  shown — Fig.  6 — the  days  are  Ahau,  Eb,  Kan,  Gib,  Lamat. 
In  addition  to  these  red  numerals,  we  find  in  the  space  occu- 
pied by  the  figures  five  black  and  five  red  numer- 
rals,  each  thirteen.  Why  there  should  be  five 
pairs  of  numerals,  each  denoting  the  same  num 
ber,  I  confess  myself  unable  to  decide;  I  shall 
therefore  leave  this  question  to  be  discussed  here- 
after, if  I  find  any  reasonable  explanation.  Ac- 
cording to  the  interpretation  already  given,  the 
i-ed  numerals  indicate  the  days,  the  black  the 
months.  Hunting  out  the  years  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding example  we  find  them  to  be  as  follows: 

i:?  Ahau.        13  £6.        13  Kan.  13  C'lh.        13  Lamat. 

Years.. 6 Cauac.  7  Cauac.  2  Cauac.    3 Cauac.  11  Cauac. 
Years..  4  Kan.    12  Kan.      7  Kan.        8  Kan.      3  Kan. 
Years..9Muluc.  4Mnluc.  SMuluc.  13Muluc.    1  Muluc. 
Years.,  llx.         2Ix.        10  Ix.  5Ix.  GIx. 

These  years  are  marked  with  a  star  and  the 
group  surrounded  by  a  continuous  dark  line  on  the  an- 
nexed table  of  years.  No.  X.  For  reasons  hereafter  given 
I  adopt  the  system  which  commences  the  cycle  with  1 
Cauac. 

As  Plate  XXVII  relates  obviously  to  the  same  gen- 
eral subject,  I  select  the  left-hand  day  column  of  its  upper 
division  as  our  next  example.  The  days  are  Ahau,  Eb, 
Kan,  Gib,  and  Lamat,  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  exam- 
ple, the  red  or  day  numeral  11,  the  black  or  month  nu- 
meral 13. 

These  give  us  the  following  years: 


i 
o 

10 

I— 1 

11   i 

12* 
3* 

13*; 

4*1 

;      1* 

2* 

:   5* 

G* 

7* 

8*; 

1  9* 

10* 

11* 

12*; 

Us* 

I   4* 

1* 

5*1 

2* 

3»: 

6 
10 

7 
11 

12 

9 
13 

|1* 

5* 

2* 
6* 

3* 

4» 

7* 

8* 

9* 

10* 

11* 

12* 

13* 

1* 

2* 
6* 

3* 

7* 

4* 

5* 

8 

9 

10 

11 

:12* 

'    3* 

13*1 

4*; 

;    1* 

2* 

\   5* 

6* 

7* 

8*i 

\  9* 

10* 

11* 

12*1 

|13* 

;   4* 

1* 

5* 

2* 

3*i 

;  6 

7 
11 

8 

9 

10 

Days . 
Years . . . 

Years . . . 

..11  Ahau. 
.  4  Cauac. 
.  2  Kan. 

11  £6. 

5  Cauac. 
10  Kan. 

11  Kan. 

13  Cauac. 

5  Kan. 

11  C,b. 

1  Cauac. 
6  Kan. 

11  Lamat. 
9  Cauac. 
1  Kan. 

Years . . . 

Years . . . 

.   7  Muluc. 
.12  Ix. 

2  Muluc. 
13  Ix. 

3  Muluc. 
8Ix. 

11  Muluc. 
3Ix. 

12  Muluc. 
4Ix. 

These  are  also  marked  on  the  annexed  table  with  a  star,  but  the  group 
is  surrounded  by  a  dotted  line.     In  order  to  enable  the  reader  to  understand 


28  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROAIsO. 

what  I  mean  by  "properly  locating"  these  periods,  I  have  extended  the 
table  so  as  to  include  one  complete  cycle,  the  close  of  another,  and  the  com- 
mencement of  another.  I  have  also  located  this  last  period — as  a  matter  of 
course  according  to  the  years  obtained — in  the  only  two  possible  positions 
in  the  table;  surrounding  each  by  a  dotted  line.  If  the  table  had  been 
extended  it  could  of  course  have  been  located  in  other  cycles.  I  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  both  these  periods  commence  with  a  Muluc  year,  which 
would  render  it  impossible  for  the  commencement  or  ending  of  an  Ahau,  if 
these  are  Ahaues,  to  coincide  with  the  commencement  or  ending  of  a  cycle 
or  gfand  cycle.  If  we  suppose  the  Ahau  to  contain  twenty-four  years,  and 
the  periods  marked  on  Table  X  to  omit  two  years  at  the  commencement 
and  two  at  the  close;  in  other  words,  extend  the  upper  and  lower  lines 
bounding  the  groups,  across  the  table,  we  will  then  have  no  difficulty  in 
making  all  the  periods  agree  with  each  other  and  with  the  cycles.  After 
all,  we  are  not  yet  authorized  to  say  positively  that  these  periods  are  Ahaues, 
or  that  they  are  even  embraced  in  or  coincide  with  them;  still,  the  oft- 
repeated  five-character  day  columns,  and  the  resulting  gi'oups  of  years, 
justify  us  in  assuming  that  they  do  at  least  coincide  with  them. 

Before  proceeding  further  in  our  discussion  of  the  Manuscript  it  will 
be  necessary  for  us  to  decide  in  reference  to  the  following  points  relating 
to  the  calendar  upon  which  we  have  incidentally  touched: 

First.  The  number  of  years  contained  in  an  Ahau. 

Second.  The  position  of  these  periods  in  the  grand  cycle  or  Ahau- 
Katun. 

Third.  The  respective  numbei's  of  these  periods  as  thus  fixed  in  the 
Ahau-Katun. 

Fourth.  With  which  one  of  the  four  days  (year  bearers)  the  grand 
cycle  begins. 

That  the  older  authorities,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  without  exception, 
give  20  years  as  the  length  of  an  Ahau,  is  admitted.  Landa,  for  example, 
says  (in  §  XLI),  "The  Indians  had  not  only  the  computation  of  the  year 
and  the  months,  but  they  had  also  a  certain  manner  of  computing  the  times 
and  events  by  ages.  This  they  did  by  20  and  20  years,  computing  1 3 
twenties  with  one  of  the   twenty  letters  of  their  month  called  Ahau,  but 


THOMAS  1  LENGTH  OF  THE  AHAU  OR  KATUN.  29 

without  order,  and  alternate  only  as  on  the  boundary  of  the  wheel  afore- 
said." 

Cogolludo  (Hist,  de  Yucathan,  Lib.  IV,  Cap.  5)  says: 

"They  compute  their  eras  and  ages,  which  they  write  down  in  their 
books,  by  20  and  20  years  and  by  lustres  of  4  and  4.  They  fix  the  first 
year  at  the  east,  to  which  they  give  the  name  Cuch-haah.  The  second,  at 
the  west,  is  called  Hiix;  the  third,  at  the  south,  is  named  Cauac^  and  the 
fourth,  Muhic,  at  the  north.  Five  of  these  lustres  being  completed,  make 
twenty  years;  this  is  what  they  call  a  Katun.  They  place  a  sculptured 
stone  upon  another  stone,  equally  sculptured,  fixed  with  lime  and  sand  in 
the  walls  of  the  temples." 

The  Perez  manuscript,  as  is  well  known,  counts  twenty  years  to  an 
Ahau.  Most  of  the  recent  writers  have  also  decided  in  favor  of  the  same 
number.  Two  or  three  of  the  most  I'ecent  authorities,  as  Dr.  Brinton, 
Charency,  and  Rosny,  are  disposed  to  follow  the  opinion  of  Perez,  that  it 
contained  twenty-four  years.  I  am  satisfied  that  the  opinion  which  holds 
twenty-four  years  to  be  the  number  is  the  correct  one,  and  will  now  pro- 
ceed to  give  the  proof  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  bearing  upon  this  point. 

First.  If  I  am  correct  in  my  interpretation  of  the  numerals,  then  the 
groups  of  years  obtained  by  using  these,  as  heretofore  shown,  will  necessa- 
rily require  twenty-foxir  years  to  the  Ahau,  no  matter  with  which  of  the 
four  year-bearing  days  we  begin  the  cycle;  for,  although  these  groups  con- 
tain but  twenty  j^ears  there  is  an  interval  of  four  years  between  each  two 
that  is  not  counted. 

Second.  The  method  of  numbering  these  periods  cannot,  as  I  believe, 
be  accounted  for  on  any  other  supposition.  According  to  all  authorities 
who  have  mentioned  the  subject  they  were  numbered,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  thus:  13,  11,  9,  7,  5,  3,  1,  12,  10,  H,  G,  4,  2,  the  number  13  bei.ng 
the  first,  1 1  the  next,  and  so  on.  It  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this 
singular  series  was  wholly  an  arbitrary  selection;  on  the  contrary,  it  is 
more  than  pi-obable  that  it  was  obtained  in  some  way  through  the  use  of 
the  "13  series."  If  we  examine  the  table  of  years.  No.  XVII,  we  will  see 
that,  commence  where  we  may,  and  divide  it  into  periods' of  twenty-four 
years  by  transverse  lines,  the  first  years  of  these  periods  taken  in  the  order 
they  come  will  accord  exactly  with  this  series.       Take  for  example  the 


30  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MAlSrUSCKIPT  TROANO. 

Aliaues  as  there  given:  tlie  first  comuiences  with  the  year  1  Cauac,  the 
second  with  12  Cauac,  the  third  with  10  Cauac,  and  so  on.  As  the  great 
C3'cle  contains  thirteen  of  these  periods,  it  follows  that  we  shall  find  all  these 
numbers  in  it  by  thus  dividing  it.  It  is  true  this  does  not  prove  that  the 
first  period  was  numbered  13;  moreover  it  is  possible  (though  I  do  not 
think  probable)  that  the  number  was  not  taken  from  that  of  the  first  day  of 
the  year,  but  from  the  second,  as  suggested  by  Perez.  According  to  the 
theory  advanced  by  this  author  these  periods  were  numbered  from  the  sec- 
ond day  of  the  Cauac  years,  which  would  necessarily  be  Ahau,  because, 
as  he  supposes,  some  notable  event  in  their  history  occurred  on  that  day. 
Even  on  this  supposition  the  series  could  not  commence  with  the  first  period 
of  the  grand  cycle,  as  this  would  be  Ahau  No.  2,  but  would  begin  with  the 
second,  which  would  be  Ahau  No.  13. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  call  attention  at  this  point  to  a  remark  made 
by  Dr.  Valentini  in  his  article  on  the  Perez  manuscript  (Proc.  Am.  Ant.  Soc. 
No.  74):  "Nor  do  we  understand  the  reason  why,  just  here,  the  topic  of 
the  succession  of  the  numbers  13,  11,  1),  7,  5,  3,  1,  1  J,  10,  8,  6,  4,  2,  was 
introduced.  Could  it  have  been  with  the  intention  of  showing  that  this 
singular  enumeration  of  alternating  Ahaues,  which  we  shall  hereafter  speak 
of,  occurred  only  in  cycles  of  twenty-four  years,  and  that  therefrom  a  proof 
might  be  derived  for  establishing  the  pretended  cycle  of  twenty-four  and 
three  hundred  and  twelve  years?  Evidence  of  this  should  have  been  given 
by  a  table  showing  the  series,  and  by  still  another  table  in  which  should 
be  shown  that  such  an  alternating  succession  did  not  occur  in  cycles  com- 
posed of  twenty  years.  Not  one  single  fact  can  be  detected  in  Seiior  Perez's 
text  by  which  the  long  established  assumption  of  a  twenty  years'  cycle  has 
been  disproved." 

.  The  object  Senor  Perez  had  in  view  in  introducing  this  series  at  this 
point  was  for  the  very  purpose  of  showing  that  this  "singular  enumeration" 
could  be  obtained  only  by  dividing  the  series  into  periods  of  twenty -four 
years.  As  he  was  not  fortunate  enough  to  hit  upon  the  plan  of  a  table  that 
would  bring  this  clearly  before  the  eye,  I  call  attention  to  Table  XVII, 
which  meets  precisely  the  requirements  of  Dr.  Valentini.  Dividing  it  into 
periods  of  twenty-four  years  will  give  this  singular  enumeration,  while 
dividing  it  into  periods  of  twenty  years  will  not. 


TH0MA8.J  LENGTH  OP  THE  AHUA  OR  KATUN.  31 

Third.  Additional  proof  to  the  same  effect  I  think  is  also  to  be  derived 
from  a  sjmbolical  figure  in  the  Manuscript  itself  The  most  notable  figure 
in  the  upper  compartment  of  Plate  XXIII  (our  Plate  IV)  is  the  blue  one  in 
the  upper  left-hand  corner  on  a  black  background  surrounded  by  a  white 
border,  the  latter  crossed  by  dotted  ra3's,  each  ray  terminating  with  a  little 
ring;  a  dagger  is  piercing  the  eye  of  the  blue  sitting  figure.  If  we  count 
these  clubbed  rays  we  shall  find  there  are  twenty-three  of  them,  but  exactly 
where  the  dagger  crosses  the  border  there  is  room  for  one  more  According 
to  my  interpretation  the  whole  of  this  figure  taken  together  is  a  symbol  of 
the  Katun  or  Ahau,  the  inner  blue  figure  probably  denoting  the  year.'  If 
I  am  correct  in  this  interpretation,  then  we  have  here  positive  evidence  that 
Perez  was  right  in  holding  that  the  Ahau  consisted  of  twenty-four  years. 
The  whole  figure  is  therefore  intended  to  indicate  the  close  of  an  Ahau; — 
when  one  more  year  has  expired  the  light  of  another  Ahau  will  be  forever 
extinguished  and  the  new  one  will  begin  its  course. 

We  find,  as  I  think,  something  similar  to  this  method  of  marking  the 
missing  year  on  Plates  7.0  and  76  of  the  Borgian  Codex.  These  two  plates, 
which  are  evidently  parts  of  one  picture,  76  being  the  upper  and  75  the 
lower  part,  are  symbolic  representations  of  periods  of  time.  The  figures 
around  the  central  circle  of  76  are  probably  intended  to  represent  the 
marching  years.  There  are  only  twelve  of  them,  but  in  the  pathway  at  the 
bottom  we  see  the  footsteps  of  one  that  has  passed  on.  At  the  four  corners 
outside  the  circle  we  see  the  four  "year-bearers."- 

On  Plate  75  the  chief  figure  is  that  of  Kingsborough's  supposed  cruci- 
fied Quetzalcoatl;  on  the  l)ody  is  a  large  sun  or  circular  disk  with  seven 
points,  but  in  the  lower  margin,  where  there  is  the  proper  space  for  another, 
the  circle  is  pierced  by  the  obsidian  knife  of  the  priest  who  holds  the  with- 
drawn heart  in  his  hand.  Around  the  figure  are  similar  but  smaller  disks; 
counting  these  we  find  there  are  eight,  the  exact  number  of  points  required 
to  complete  the  central  disk,  and  the  number  of  periods  (Indications)  in  an 
acre.  Possibly  other  periods  are  intended,  as  I  have  not  studied  the  Mexican 
Calendar  with  sufficient  care  to  express  any  decided  opinion  on  this  point; 

1  Foittmately,  the  correctness  of  this  supposition,  which  I  mentioned  in  an  article  in  the  Ameri- 
can Naturalist  for  August,  1881,  has  since  been  verified  by  Dr.  D.  G.  Brinton — "The  Books  of  Chilan 
Balam,"  p.  1.5. 

2  Not  those  usually  given,  but  those  evidently  used  for  this  purpose  in  this  and  other  codices. 


32  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

my  only  object  in  referring  to  these  plates  being  to  illustrate  the  idea  ad- 
vanced in  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  dagger  piercing  the  eye  of  the  blue 
figure  on  Plate  XXIII  of  the  Manuscript  Troano. 

The  next  point  to  be  determined  is  the  position  of  the  several  Ahaues 
in  the  grand  cycle.  This  larger  group,  as  admitted  by  all  authorities,  con- 
sisted of  thirteen  Ahaues;  as  24  X  1''5=::312,  it  follows  that,  assuming  the 
Ahau  to  be  a  period  of  24  years,  this  longer  period  would  consist  of  312 
years.  If  the  first  year  of  the  grand  cycle  coincided  with  the  first  year 
of  an  Ahau,  the  position  of  these  latter  groups  would  be  determined  by 
simply  dividing  the  former  into  groups  of  24  years,  as  shown  in  Table  No. 
XVI,  where  the  dark  transverse  lines  mark  the  divisions  between  the  Ahaues 
as  thus  obtained.  This  conclusion  is  so  natural  that  it  would  seem  to  follow 
as  a  matter  of  course  from  the  numbers  used,  aud  from  the  fact  that  the 
number  of  years  in  a  grand  cycle  is  an  exact  multiple  of  the  number  of 
years  in  an  Ahau. 

But  as  Seiior  Perez,  who  is  our  chief  authority  for  what  pertains  to  the 
Maya  calendar,  has  advanced  a  different  opinion,  and  as  his  suggestion 
affords  a  means  of  escape  from  a  very  serious  difficulty,  I  will  call  attention 
to  it  before  deciding  as  to  which  I  believe  to  be  the  true  method  of  locating 
these  periods.  But  in  order  that  his  theory  may  be  clearly  understood  it  is 
necessary  for  us  first  to  determine  the  dominical  day  with  which  the  first 
years  of  the  Ahaues  commenced;  for  it  is  evident,  whether  we  count  twenty 
or  twenty-four  years  to  these  periods — as  each  is  a  multiple  of  4 — that  if 
they  followed  each  other  in  regular  order  the  first  year  of  each  would  begin 
with  the  same  dominical  day  though  not  the  same  number.  In  other  words, 
if  one  of  the  sei'ies  began  with  a  Kan  year  all  the  rest  would  begin  with  a 
Kan  year.  If  the  first  year  of  a  cycle  were  also  the  first  year  of  an  Ahau, 
as  we  would  naturally  presume,  then  determining  the  first  year  of  any  one 
will  determine  all  the  others. 

In  the  manuscript  discovered  by  Perez  and  translated  into  English  by 
Stephens  (from  the  Spanish  translation  of  the  discoverer),  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing statement:  "In  the  1 3th  Ahau  Chief  Ajpula  died.  Six  years  were 
ivanting  to  comiilete  the  \'6th  Ahau.  This  year  was  counted  toward  the  east 
of  the  wheel  and  began  on  the  4th  Kan.  Ajpula  died  on  the  1 8th  day  of 
the  month  Zip  on  the  9th  Ymix."     Taking  for  granted  that  the  day,  the 


THOMAS)  FIEST  YEAR  OF  THE  AHAU.  33 

number  of  the  day,  and  the  month  as  given  here  are  coiTect,  it  is  easy  to 
determine  from  our  condensed  calendar  that  the  year  must  necessarily  have 
been  4  Kan.  As  there  were  twenty -four  years  in  an  Ahau,  and  six  were 
yet  wanting  to  complete  that  referred  to  in  the  quotation,  it  follows  of  neces- 
sity this  4  Kan  was  the  18th  and  that  this  Ahau  nmst  have  commenced  with 
the  year  13  Cauac  and  ended  with  10  Ix.  This  will  be  seen  by  making  a 
list  of  the  years  in  regular  succession,  so  that  4  Kan  shall  be  the  18th.  We 
give  such  a  list  here  (Table  No.  XI),  marking  in  italics  the  4  Kan. 

Table  XI. 

1 — 13  Cauac. 

2—  1  Kan. 

3—  2  Muluc. 

4—  3Ix. 

5 —  4  Cauac. 
C—  5  Kan. 

7 —  6  Muluc. 

8—  7Ix. 

9 —  8  Cauac. 
10—  9  Kan. 
11—10  Muluc. 
12—11  Ix. 

13 — 12  Cauac.  . 

14—13  Kan. 

15 —  1  Muluc. 

16—  2  Ix. 

17 —  3  Cauac. 

18—  4  Kan. 
19_  5  Muluc. 

20—  6  Ix. 

21 —  7  Cauac. 

22—  8  Kan. 

23—  9  Muluc. 
24—10  Ix. 

If  we  place  these  years  in  tabular  form,  as  heretofore  given,  the  Ahau 
will  be  in  the  form  shown  in  the  annexed  table  (XII).     Here,  then,  we 

3  M   T 


34 


A  STUDY  OF  TDE  MANUSCEIPT  TROANO. 


luive  positive  evidence,  if  to  be  relied  on,  that  this  Ahau  at  least  comuienoed 
with  a  Cauac  year  (whether  the  Ahau  contained  24  or  20  years),  and,  if  so, 
all  the  others  of  the  series. 

A  somewhat  careful  examination  of  Senor  Perez's  Cronologia  Antigua 


Table  XII. 


i 

M 

6 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4* 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

satisfies  nie  that  his  whole  scheme  was  based  upon  what 
he  believed  to  be  two  established  facts:  first,  that  the 
Ahaues  commenced  with  a  Cauac  year;  and,  second,  that 
they  wei'e  numbered  from  the  second  day  of  these  years. 
I  am  pretty  well  satisfied  from  some  things  observ- 
able in  the  Manuscript  Troano  that  it  recognizes  Cauac 
as  the  dominical  day  of  the  first  year  of  the  Ahaues. 
First.  The  order  of  the  four  plates  XX-XXIII,  which 
refer  exclusively  to  the  four  dominical  days.  That  Bras- 
seur  has  paged  these  plates  in  exactly  the  reverse  order 
to  what  they  should  be,  I  think  is  evident  from  the  fol- 
lowing facts:  As  now  paged  they  bring  these  days  in  the  following  order: 
Ix,  Muluc,  Kan,  Cauac,  exactly  the  reverse  of  that  in  which  the}'  come 
in  the  calendar.  This  alone  is  sufficient  to  cause  us  to  suspect  a  reversal. 
But  it  is  not  the  only  reason  for  believing  this.  If  we  follow  the  order  of 
the  plates  in  marking  the  years,  we  obtain  no  continuous  period,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  annexed  Table  XIII. 

Second.  The  numeral  (1),  over  the  second  Cauac  character  on  Plate 
XXIII  (our  Plate  IV)  and  also  that  over  the  fifth  Muluc  character  on  Plate 
XXI  (our  Plate  II)  is  surrounded  in  each  case  with  a  circle  of  minute 
dots.  Although  there  are  other  numeral  characters  on  these  four  plates 
denoting  one,  none  except  these  two  are  thus  distinguished.  WTiat  is  this 
intended  to  signify?  My  answer  is,  it  signifies  that  those  two  years  are 
the  first  of  important  periods  that  are  included  in,  or  at  least  begin  in, 
the  time  embraced  by  these  four  plates.  Now  let  us  test  this  by  giving  two 
tables  embracing  the  period  covered  by  them,  marking  the  Ahaues  on  one 
according  to  the  plan  I  have  given,  and  on  the  other  according  to  Senor 
Perez's  method. 

Table  XIV  commences  with  a  Cauac  year,  and  is  of  the  usual  form, 
as  heretofore  given.     Table  XV  begins  with  a  Kan  year,  and  is  made  in 


FIEST  YEAR  OF  THE  AHAU. 


35 


accordance  with  the  theory  advanced  by  Perez,  who  holds  that  the  cycle 
began  with  a  Kan  year,  although  contending  that  the  Aliaues  commenced 

Table  XIII.  Table  XIV.  Table  XV. 


2 
6 

10 
1 
5 
9 

13 
4 
8 

7 
11 

2 
6 

10 
1 
5 
9 

13 

4 

_8 

12 
3 
7 

11 


O 

a 
a 

M 

d 

3 

'3 

M 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 
9 

6] 

10  ! 

;  7 

8 

1  11 

12 

13 

1  ; 

;  2 

3 

4 

5  i 

i  6 

7 

8 

9  \ 

n  10 

11 

i  12  1  13  I 

> 
> 

): > 

\    ® 

2 

3 

^  7 

8  i 

\\    5 

6 

\\    9 

10 

11 

12  l< 

(i  13 

1 

2 

3  ji 

5 
9 

6 

7  1 

1  10 

11  \ 

>  12 

13 

i© 
5 

2  U 
6  !> 

Ji  3 

4 

Ji  7 

8 

9 

10  \\ 

i\   11 

12 

13 

1  i 

|i  2   3 

J:  6  7 

4 

5  1 

I  8 

9  \ 

10 

\}^ 

12 

13 

d 

1 

o 
cs 

i 

o 

1 
5 

2 
6 

3 

7 

4 

8 
12 

9 

10 

11 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8' 

9"l 

^  1*^  i  ^ 

^.^.^^ 

12 

"13 

1  ;S 

5  ■  ^ 

3 

4 

5  |< 

i;  6 

7 

8 

9  ij 

j;  10 

11 

12 

13  \l 

y   1 

:o: \  \ 

2 

3 

4  1^ 

81 

12  !< 

^   5 

10 

7 
11 

<!  9 

Ji  13 

1 

2 

3  ij 

<i  4 

5 

6 

7  i^ 

jl  12 

9 

10 

11  :| 

:  13 

1 

2  < 

6  i 

^   3 

4 

5 

\     11 

8 

9 

^10 

]  12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 
10 

7 
11 

8 
12 

9 

13 

1 

1 

36  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

with  a  Cauac  year.  On  each,  the  divisions  between  the  Ahaues  are  marked 
by  sohd,  heavy,  black  hnes;  the  usually  counted  twenty  years  of  each  are 
surrounded  by  a  single  dotted  line,  and  the  period  covered  by  the  four 
plates  by  a  continuous  waved  line.     The  point  at  which  the  grand  cycle 

begins  is  marked  thus:  :o: .     If  we  examine  Table  XIV  we  see  that 

1  Cauac  is  the  first  year  of  a  cycle,  and  1  Muluc  the  first  of  the  usually 
"counted  years"  of  an  Ahau,  and  that  both  are  within  the  period  covered 
by  the  four  plates;  each  is  surrounded  by  a  ring  in  order  to  designate  it. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  each  is  the  first  year  of  an  "Indication''  or  week  of 
years;  so  are  1  Kan  and  1  Ix  in  the  same  period,  yet  neither  of  these  is 
thus  distinguished. 

If  we  turn  now  to  Table  XV,  in  which  the  cycle  begins  with  a  Kan 
year,  we  can  see  no  reason  why  either  the  1  Cauac  or  the  1  Muluc  in  the 
period  embraced  by  the  waved  line  should  have  any  special  mark  of  dis- 
tinction. 

It  is  proper  to  state  here  that  unit  numerals  surrounded  in  a  similar 
manner  by  a  circle  of  dots,  are  to  be  found  on  other  plates  where  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  apply  the  theory  here  advanced. 

Another  difficulty  which  arises,  if  we  adopt  Perez's  theory,  is  that  the 
last  Ahau  of  a  grand  cycle  does  not  close  with  the  end  of  that  period,  but 
includes  one  or  more  years  of  the  following,  according  to  the  place  the 
division  begins. 

Taking  all  these  facts  into  consideration,  it  appears  that  the  calendar 
system  followed  by  the  author  of  the  Troano  Manuscript  commenced  the 
cycles  and  the  Ahaues  with  a  Cauac  year.  I  think,  therefore,  the  evidence 
that  the  Ahaues  at  least  began  with  a  Cauac  year  is  too  strong  to  leave  any 
doubt  on  this  point. 

As  bearing  upon,  and,  as  I  believe,  tending  strongly  to  confirm  this 
conclusion,  I  will  introduce  here  some  examples  from  the  Manuscript. 

In  the  second  division  of  Plates  XXX  and  XXXI,  commencing  on  the 
left  half  of  the  former  and  continuing  through  the  latter,  we  observe  a  series 
of  figures  all  similar  to  each  other,  except  the  one  to  the  right  on  Plate 
XXX,  which  is  the  long-nosed  god. 

Over  each  figure,  except  one,  there  is  a  red  numeral,  but  these  differ 


FIBST  YEAR  OF  THE  AHAU. 


37 


from  each  other  in  the  numbers  indicated.  In  front  of  each  face  is  the 
black  numeral  character  for  11.  The  red  numerals  are  (?),  9,  7,  5,  3.  The 
first  is  obliterated,  but  if  we  judge  by  the  space  it  would  be  1,  if  by  the 
order,  1  i ;  but  since  the  result  will  be  the  same,  except  as  to  the  position 
of  the  period  obtained  by  this  one  in  the  table  of  years,  it  makes  no  par- 
ticular difference  for  the  present  purpose  which  we  assume  is  correct. 
Assuming  11  to  be  the  missing  one,  the  numbers  of  the  days  will  then  be 
11,  9,  7,  5,  3. 

The  days  in  the  column  at  the  left  of  the  compartment  on  Plate  XXXI 
are  Kan,  Cib,  Lamat,  Ahau,  and  Eb.  Hunting  out  the  years  in  the  manner 
heretofore  described,  we  find  them  to  be  as  follows: 


11  Ean. 

11  Cib. 

11  Lamat. 

11  Ahau. 

11  Eb. 

^  Years . . 

. .  1  Cauac. 

2  Cauac. 

10  Cauac. 

5  Cauac. 

C  Cauac. 

(")|y::'::: 

. .  C  Kan. 

7  Kan. 

2  Kan. 

3  Kan. 

11  Kan. 

. .  4  Muluc. 

12  Muluc. 

13  Muluc. 

8  Muluc. 

3  Muluc. 

[  Years . . 

..  9Ix. 

4Ix. 

5Ix. 

13  Ix. 

llx. 

9  Ean. 

9  Cib. 

9  Lamat. 

9  Ahau. 

9Eb. 

C  Years  . . 
1  Years . . 

. .  12  Cauac. 

13  Cauac. 

8  Cauac. 

3  Cauac. 

4  Cauac. 

. .  4  Kan. 

5  Kan. 

13  Kan. 

1  Kan. 

9  Kan. 

^•^^  1  Years  . . 

. .  2  Muluc. 

10  Muluc. 

11  Muluc. 

G  Muluc. 

1  Muluc. 

[  Years . . 

..   7Ix. 

2Ix. 

3Ix. 

11  Ix. 

12  Ix. 

7  Ean. 

7  Cib. 

7  Lamat. 

7  Ahau. 

7  £6. 

r  Years . . 

j  Years .. 

^^'  j  Years . . 

. .  10  Cauac. 

11  Cauac. 

C>  Cauac. 

1  Cauac. 

2  Cauac. 

..  2  Kan. 

3  Kan. 

11  Kan. 

12  Kan. 

7  Kan. 

. .  13  Muluc. 

8  Muluc. 

9  Muluc. 

4  Muluc. 

12  Muluc. 

[  Years  . . 

..  5  Ix, 

13  Ix. 

llx. 

9Ix. 

10  Ix. 

5  Ean. 

5  Cib. 

5  Lamat. 

5  Ahau. 

5Eb. 

[  Y'ears . . 

. .  8  Cauac. 

9  Cauac. 

4  Cauac. 

12  Cauac. 

13  Cauac. 

i  Years.. 

^^'  1  Years.. 

. .  13  Kan. 

1  Kan. 

9  Kan. 

10  Kan. 

5  Kan. 

. .  11  Muluc. 

G  Muluc. 

7  Muluc. 

2  Muluc. 

10  Muluc. 

I  Years  . . 

. .  3  Ix. 

11  Ix. 

12  Ix. 

7Ix. 

8Ix. 

3  Ean. 

3  Cib. 

3  Lamat. 

3  Ahau. 

3£t. 

f  Years  . . 

. .   G  Cauac. 

7  Cauac. 

2  Cauac. 

10  Cauac. 

11  Cauac. 

1  Years,. 
^"*^  1  Years. - 

..11  Kan. 

12  Kan. 

7  Kan. 

8  Kan. 

3  Kan. 

. .  9  Muluc. 

4  Muluc. 

5  Muluc. 

13  Muluc. 

8  Muluc. 

/  Years . . 

..  llx. 

9Ix. 

10  Ix. 

5Ix. 

GIx. 

In  order  to  show  the  position  of  these  groups  in  the  series  of  years, 
and  how  they  stand  in  reference  to  each  other,  I  give  here  a  table  (XVI) 
covering  one  entire  grand  cycle,  and  including  the  last  cycle  of  the  pre- 


38  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

Table  XVI. 


i 

a 

1 

1— I 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

3 
O 

6 

"a 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

1 

'"ii| 
2;^ 

:;12 

13 

:i  3 

4 

5 

Gi 

1  '^ 

8 

9 

10  i| 

11 

2 

12 
3 

13 

1' 

Ii  4 

5 

G 

7 

ii  8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

ii  5 

G 

7 

8 

il  9 

!|13 

10 

1 

11 

12 

i  ^ 

3 

4 

5 

ife" 

7 
11 

ii  8 

9 

10 

il2 

13 

1 

2: 

;  3 

4 

5 

6; 

\   7 

;  11 

8 
12 

9 

10; 

:13 

1 

2 

3 

XT 

8 

5:; 

9ii 

i  6 

7 

iio 

11 

12 

13  il 

0 
0 

i 

1 

1— 1 

ii  1 

2 

3 

4ii 

Ii  5 
;:  9 

G 
10 

7 

8i 

.ill 

12 

13 

1 

\""2 

3 

7; 

i;  4 

5 

G 

ii  8 

9 

10 

Hi 

iil2 

13 

•  1 

2; 

I   3 

ii  7 

4 

8 

5 

6i 

r-9- 

10 

11 

12 

|13 

1 
5 

2 

3 

4 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 
5 

2 
G 

3 

4 

7 

8 

9 

10 

V' 

12 
3 

13 

1 

2 

4 

5 

G 

■  7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

3 

13 

1 

2 

4 

.  5 

6 

7 

8 

r» 

10 

1 

11 

12 

13 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

i 

i 
1 

a 

a 

2 

J3 

4 

5  1  G 

1^ 

8 
12 

9 

10 

11 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 
12 

9 
13 

10 

11 

Ji 

2 

3  :  4  ("5 

10 

7 

8 

9 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

jio 

7 
11 

8 

9 

12 

13 

:o: 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

•9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

THOMAS.] 


FIRST  YEAR  OF  THE  AHAU.  39 


ceding  and  the  first  cycle  of  the  following  grand  cycles.  As  I  have  as- 
sumed that  the  cycle  (and  hence  the  great  cycle)  commenced  with  the 
year  1  Cauac,  it  follows  that,  in  carrying  out  the  above  supposition,  the 
first  Ahau  of  the  series  must  also  begin  with  this  year.  The  divisions  be- 
tween the  Ahaues  are  marked  on  the  table  by  transverse  solid  black  lines. 
The  point  at  which  the  first  great  «ycle  ends  and  the  next  (which  is  given 
complete)  begins  is  marked  thus :  :o: .  I  next  locate  the  fore- 
going groups  of  years  so  as,  if  possible,  not  to  clash  with  each  other,  and 
also  in  such  a  mainiei-  that  tlie  period  represented  by  a  group  shall  fall 
within  one  of  the  Ahaues  marked  off  on  the  table. 

Each  group  is  surrounded  by  a  continuous  dark  line,  so  as  to  be  easily 
distinguished  from  other  periods  marked  on  the  same  table;  they  are  also 
numbered  at  the  sides  thus:  (11),  (U),  (7),  (5),  (3),  these  numbers  corre- 
sponding with  the  day  numbers  by  which  the  different  groups  were 
obtained. 

These  groups,  each  consisting  of  twentj'  years,  not  only  fall  within  the 
lines  marking  the  Katunes,  but  come  in  regular  succession,  leaving  four 
uncounted  years  between  each  two  periods — two  belonging  to  one  and  two 
to  tliat  which  follows.  In  other  words,  while  the  Katun  or  Ahau  as  a  whole, 
according  to  the  theory  upon  which  I  am  now  proceeding,  always  com- 
menced with  a  Cauac  year,  the  twenty  "counted  years"  in  the  present 
example  begin  with  a  Muluc  year.  But,  as  appears  from  what  has  already 
been  shown,  this  is  not  always  true  in  regard  to  these  periods,  yet  it  is  gen- 
erally the  case. 

If  we  observe  carefully  the  five  figures  in  the  first  or  uppermost  division 
of  the  plates  under  consideration,  we  see  that  they"  correspond  in  character 
to  those  in  tlie  second  division  to  which  we  have  just  alluded,  and  that  the 
black  numeral  is  also  the  same,  (11).  The  only  red  numerals  recognizable 
are  the  13  over  the  long-nosed  god  on  Plate  XXX,  the  8  facing  the  left- 
hand  figure  on  Plate  XXXI,  and  the  2  over  the  left-hand  figure  on  Plate 
XXX.  According  to  the  arrangement  of  the  numbers  in  the  second  divis- 
ion, those  in  this  division  would  be  8,  6,  4,  2,  13,  reading  from  left  to  right. 
If  we  assume  these  numbers  to  be  correct,  and  the  days  to  be  Eb,  Kan, 


40 


A  STUDY  OF  TOE  MANUSOKirT  TROANO. 


Cib,  Lamat,  and  Aliau,  as  shown  by  those  not  obliterated,  the  years  would 
be  as  follows: 


i:{  Eb. 

i;?  Kan. 

13  Cib. 

13  Lamat. 

13  Allan. 

f  Years . . 

. .  8  Cauac. 

3  Cauac. 

4  Cauac. 

12  Cauac. 

7  Cauac. 

jg  i  Years.. 
1  Years . . 

..13Kau. 

8  Kan. 

9  Kan. 

4  Kan. 

5  Kan. 

. .  5  Miiluc. 

6  Muluc. 

1  Muluc. 

2  Muluc. 

10  Muluc. 

[  Years . . 

. .  3  Ix. 

11  Ix. 

Six. 

7Ix. 

2Ix. 

8Eb. 

8  Kan. 

8  Cib. 

8  Lamat. 

8  Ahaa. 

f  Years . . 

. .  3  Cauac. 

11  Cauac. 

12  Cauac. 

7  Cauac. 

2  Cauac. 

g    Years.. 
1  Years.. 

. .  8  Kan. 

3  Kan. 

4  Kan. 

12  Kan. 

13  Kan. 

. .  13  Muluc. 

1  Muluc. 

9  Muluc. 

10  Muluc. 

5  Muluc. 

I  Years . . 

..11  Ix. 

GIx. 

llx. 

2Ix. 

10  Ix, 

6Eb. 

6  Kan. 

6  Cib. 

6  Lamat. 

6  Aliau. 

\  Years.. 

. .  1  Cauac. 

9  Cauac. 

10  Cauac. 

5  Cauac. 

13  Cauac. 

j  Years . . 
t  Years . . 

. .  G  Kan. 

1  Kan. 

2  Kan. 

10  Kan. 

11  Kan.- 

..11  Muluc. 

12  Muluc. 

7  Muluc. 

8  Muluc. 

3  Muluc. 

^  Years  . 

..   9Ix. 

4Ix. 

12  Ix. 

13  Ix. 

8  Ix. 

4Eb. 

4  Kan. 

4  Cib. 

4  Lamat. 

4  Ahau. 

f  Years . . 
,     Years . . 

Years . . 

. .  12  Cauac. 

7  Cauac. 

8  Cauac. 

3  Cauac. 

11  Cauac. 

. .  4  Kan. 

12  Kan. 

13  Kan. 

8  Kan. 

9  Kan. 

. .  9  Muluc. 

10  Muluc. 

5  Muluc. 

6  Muluc. 

1  Muluc. 

Years.. 

..   7Ix. 

2Ix. 

10  Ix. 

11  Ix. 

6Ix. 

2  £6. 

2  Kan. 

2  Cib. 

2  Lamat.. 

2  Ahau. 

f  Years.. 

2 'Years.. 

1  Years . . 

. .  10  Cauac. 

5  Cauac. 

6  Cauac. 

1  Cauac. 

9  Cauac. 

. .  2  Kan. 

10  Kan. 

11  Kan. 

6  Kan. 

7  Kan. 

. .  7  Muluc. 

8  Muluc. 

3  Muluc. 

4  Muluc. 

12  Muluc. 

(  Years . . 

..  5Ix. 

13  Ix. 

8Ix. 

9Ix. 

4Ix. 

Locating  these  on  the  same  table  (XVI)  as  shown  by  the  groups  sur- 
rounded by  dotted  lines,  we  find  that  they  follow  each  other  in  precisely  the 
same  order  as  the  other  groups.  As  these  groups  all  fit  into  the  Ahaues  as 
I  have  divided  them  ofi",  we  have  in  this  fact  a  strong  presumption  that  our 
division  is  correct;  still,  it  is  proper  to  state  here,  as  will  be  shown  here- 
after, that  all  these  periods  will  also  fit  into  the  Ahaues  if  the  grand  cycle 
is  divided  according  to  the  theory  advanced  by  Senor  Perez.  Yet,  even  on 
this  plan,  these  periods  begin  with  Cauac  years  and  have  the  same  num- 
bers; the  only  difference  between  the  plans,  so  far  as  this  matter  is  con- 
cerned, is  that  equivalents  do  not  occupy  precisely  the  same  position  in  tlie 
grand  cycle,  but  overlap  each  other  three  years. 


TuoMAs]  FIEST  YEAR  OF  THE  AHAU.  41 

Whether  the  Dresden  Codex  commences  the  series  with  the  same  year 
as  the  Manusci'ipt  Troano  is  a  point  not  yet  decided;  but  from  what  is 
shown  on  Plates  25-28,  Kan  does  riot  appear  to  be  the  first.  I  think  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  these  four  plates  represent  the  fetes  and  ceremonies  of 
the  supplementary  days  described  by  Landa  (Relac.  de  las  cosas,  §§  XXXV- 
XXXVIII).  The  reasons  for  this  opinion  will  be  given  hereafter.  It  is 
evident  from  the  day-characters  in  the  left-hand  column  that  the  plates  are 
numbered  in  the  proper  order.  These  days — of  which  there  are  but  two 
on  a  plate,  though  each  is  repeated  thirteen  times— are  probably  the  last 
two  of  the  supplementary  days  of  the  year.  As  those  on  Plate  25  are  Eb 
and  Been  the  year  denoted  must  be  Muluc  or  Ix;  that  is,  the  closing  Muluo- 
year  or  commencing  Ix  year.  It  is  quite  plain  that  the  year  Kan  is  not 
the  one  denoted.  As  I  will  refer  more  at  length  to  these  plates  hereafter  I 
will  not  undertake  to  determine  anything  further  concerning  them  here,  my 
only  object  at  present  being  to  show  that  neither  Codex  appears  to  com- 
mence the  series  of  years  with  Kan. 

Before  closing  the  discussion  in  reference  to  the  dominical  day  of  the 
first  year  of  the  Ahau,  it  is  proper  to  call  attention  to  what  Cogulludo  says 
on  this  point.  According  to  his  statement  in  a  quotation  from  his  work, 
found  elsewhere  in  this  paper,  the  Indians  fixed  the  first  year  of  these 
periods  to  the  east,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  Cucli-liadb ;  the  second, 
called  Hiix,  they' placed  at  the  west;  the  third,  named  Caiiac,  at  the  south, 
and  the  fourth,  Muluc,  at  the  north.  It  is  evident  that  Cuch-haab  here  is 
the  equivalent  of  Kan,  and  if  we  take  the  numbers  as  this  author  gives 
them,  Kan  would  be  the  first,  but  the  order  in  which  the  other  three  follow 
each  other  would  not  agree  with  that  found  in  the  calendar.  If  we  com- 
mence with  Kan  and  follow  the  order  of  these  years  as  given  in  the  calen- 
dar, the  order  of  the  cardinal  points  would  then  be  east,  north,  west,  south. 
It  is  apparent  therefore  that  this  statement  throws  but  little  if  any  light  on 
the  subject.  It  is  well  known  that  the  south,  at  which  Cauac  was  placed, 
was,  to  some  of  the  Maya  nations  at  least,  the  point  of  departure  or  chief 
cardinal  point.  We  have  therefore  as  much  authority  for  assuming  it  as  the 
first  of  these  periods  as  the  simple  fact  that  Cogulludo  gives  Kan  as  the  first, 
especially  as  the  number  he  gives  applied  to  the  lusters. 


42  A  STUDY  OF  TUE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

Our  next  step  is  to  determine  the  respective  numbers  of  tlie  Aliuues  as 
located  ill  the  grand  cycle. 

We  start  as  a  matter  of  course  with  the  understanding  that  the  num- 
bers wei'e  as  heretofore  stated — 13,  11,  9,  7,  5,  3,  1,  12,  10,  8,  6,  4,  2 — -and 
that  they  always  followed  each  other  in  the  order  here  given;  that  is  to  say, 
1  always  followed  3,  12  always  followed  1,  and  so  on. 

On  folios  71,  72,  and  73  of  the  Dresden  Codex  we  find  the  following 
^T^r>  r-r2^T^;":a.(FP)  rrTyar^,-,w^rrn  ^s'^i''^'^  placed  in  one  con- 
/f^^~~^/y^^^^~^~^^\^^^^^  tinuous  line  (Fig.  7);  (a  suf- 

/  I /'"'         III  .'l  y"  III  f  /)  \        O        J'    \ 

"^y^S^y^^^-^M^  ^^^^i~---M  fieient  number  for  illustra- 
FiG.  7.  tion  only  are  given): 

Commencing  with  the  left-hand  figure  and  reading  to  the  right,  the 
numbers  given  in  them  are  11,  13,  2,  4,  6,  8,  10,  12,  1,  3,  5,  7;  in  the  lower 
right-hand  corner  of  page  73  we  find  the  missing  9.  The  fact  that  the  order 
is  here  reversed,  if  read  from  left  to  right,  is  no  evidence  that  this  is  the 
order  in  which  the  Ahaues  (if  these  figures  refer  to  these  periods)  followed 
each  other,  as  it  is  possible  the}'  should  be  read  from  right  to  left.  But 
the  fact  that  we  here  find  thirteen  peculiar  figures,  with  the  knot  de- 
noting the  tying  of  years  or  period  of  years,  with  numbers  following  each 
other  in  the  order,  whether  direct  or  i-eversed,  of  those  vised  in  numbering 
the  Ahaues,  is  sufficient  to  justify  us  in  believing  that  they  refer  to  these 
penods.  The  only  reason  I  see  for  any  doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  this 
conclusion  is  that  on  pages  62  and  63  we  find  similar  figures  containing 
numeral  characters  for  IG,  15,  17,  and  19,  numbers  that  cannot  refer  to  the 
Ahaues.  Possibly  they  may  be  used  to  designate  the  years  of  the  Ahaues, 
but  be  this  as  it  may,  a  close  inspection  of  the  knots  will  show  that  they 
are  diff'erent  from  those  on  pages  71,  72,  and  73. 

Knowing  the  order  in  which  they  follow  each  other,  it  is  evident  that 
if  we  can  determine  the  number  of  any  one  in  the  series  it  is  a  very  simple 
matter  to  number  all  the  rest. 

As  the  possibility  of  our  being  able  to  compare  dates  of  the  Maya 
system  with  those  of  the  Christian  era  depends  on  the  correct  determination 
of  this  point,  I  will  give  not  only  my  own  conclusion,  illustrating  it  by 
means  of  a  table  (XVII),  but  will  also  show  the  result  of  following  out 


THOMAsi  METHOD  OF  NUMBERING  THE  AHAUES.  43 

Seilor  Perez's  theory,  tlie  only  other  possible  one,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to 
see,  illustrating  it  also  by  tables  (XVIII  and  XIX). 

According  to  the  statement  in  the  Perez  manuscript  already  quoted, 
Chief  Ajpula  died  in  the  13th  Ahau  in  tlie  year  4  Kan,  and  there  were 
six  years  wanting  to  complete  this  Ahau.  As  it  appears  more  than  prob- 
able, judging  by  the  contents  of  the  manuscript  itself,  that  it  was  written 
soon  after  the  Spaniards  came  into  possession  of  the  peninsula,  we  may,  I 
think,  rely  upon  this  date  as  correctly  given,  although  the  manuscript  is 
evidently  confused  and,  in  some  resjoects,  inaccurate  and  even  contradictory. 

If  the  grand  cycle  was  divided  into  Ahaues  of  twenty-four  years  each, 
as  heretofore  suggested,  and  as  shown  in  the  annexed  table-  (XVII),  it 
follows  that  the  one  in  which  this  event  occurred  must  necessarily  have 
been  that  which  I  have  numbered  XIII,  as  there  is  no  other  one  in  the 
entire  grand  cycle  that  has  six  years  remaining  after  the  year  4  Kan. 

Each  of  the  tables  (XVII,  XVIII,  XIX)  includes  one  entire  grand 
cycle,  also  one  cycle  of  the  preceding  and  one  of  the  following  grand 
cycles.     The  commencement  and  ending  of  the  grand  cycles  are  marked 

thus :  :0: ;  the  divisions  between  the  Ahaues  are  marked  by  solid 

black  transverse  lines,  each  gi'oup  of  the  usually  counted  years  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  single  dotted  line;  the  period  embraced  by  Plates  XX-XXIII 
(our  Plates  I-IV)  is  surrounded  by  a  single  waved  line;  the  Ahaues  are 
numbered  with  Roman  numerals. 

Table  XVII  begins  with  a  Cauac  year,  and  is  made  in  accordance 
with  the  theory  I  have  advanced.  Tables  XVIII  and  XIX  commence 
with  a  Kan  year,  and  are  made  in  accordance  with  the  theory  advanced 
by  Perez ;  XIX,  upon  the  assumption  that  the  first  Ahau  commenced 
with  the  fourth  year  of  the  grand  cycle;  XVIII,  upon  the  theory  that  it 
began  with  the  last  year  of  the  preceding  grand  C3'cle,  as  one  of  these  two 
plans  must  be  adopted  to  carry  out  his  theory. 


44 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


Table  XVII. 


3 
cS 

O 

Kan. 
Muluc. 

1— 1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

.12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1  1     2  1 

132?  , 

3 

■   7 

4 
......... 

9 

6i 
10  1 

ill 

12 

13 

1: 

1  2 

3 

4 

5i 

I   ^ 

7  1    8 

9i 

>:iio  1  iiii  i'2  1  13  K 

|I351 

:( 

2 

'■ i 

i.3 

Ml 

:  5 

6       7 

^\ 

il3 

10 

1 
1 

11 

[ 
2 

12:  J 

3  5 

>!!  4 

N  8 
i  

5. 
9i 

6 

7jS 

10 

11  I 

> 

;>    1375 

13 

!<, 

!0 
■    5 

2]\ 

6  ; 

u  ^ 

4 

1   7 

'iUi 

8 

X 

12 

9 
II 

13 

10; ! 
l;^ 

M  c 

3 

7i 

4 

5\i, 

8 

9  ^ 

1  io'|<ii^?ir 

urn  1  IVv,^, ; 

13: 

o 

CS 

s 
O 

6 

t^ 

M 

i    1 

2 

3 

4; 

:   5 

C 

7 

8: 

\   9 

10  1  11 

121 

il3 

!   4 

1 

5\ 

2 

3; 

6 

7 

"1423   1 

8 

9 

1 10 
1 

11: 

2: 

12 

13 

:   3 

4  1     5 

c: 

;*7 

Till 

8  j    9 

10: 

ill 

i   2 

12 

3: 

13 

li 

4 

5 

l«7l 

7    i   8 

9: 

ilO 

ii    12 

VI 

13: 

1  1 

2 

3 

4: 

i  5 

6 

7 

8i 

!   9 
jl3 

10 
1: 

11 

12! 

2 

3 

imi 

5 

i  6 

7: 

;   8 

9 

-10 

11: 

12 

13 

1 

2; 

1  3 

I 
4 

V 

5 

6; 

1  7 
ill 

8 
12; 

9 

10: 

13 

1 

Tsrr 

2! 

3 

8 

5: 
9: 

;  G 

7 

II 

1 10 

11     12 

13: 

i 

OS 
0 

i 

h- 1 

:   1 

2 

3 

4: 

\  5 
i   9 

I 
6 

10 1 

I 
7 

8; 

11 

12 

"1619  1 

13 

1 

i   2 

3 

:   4 

6 

U 

7; 

i  8 

9 

10 

11; 

:12 

XI 

13 

II 

1 

2: 

i  3 

t4 

5 

6: 

:    7 

8: 

9 

10 

11 

12 

il3 

1: 

f2'" 

3 

4 

5^ 

1  c 

7 

8 

9i 

ilO 

11 

12 

13: 

XI 

:   1 

2       3 

4: 

:   5 

oil     7 

8 

1567, 

9 

10 

ill 

'  2 

12  i 
3: 

:13 

1 

:  4 

5       6 

7: 

1  8 

I 
9 

10 

11  i 

112 

\   3 

13 

1 

2: 

*i 

5 

6 

"1591 

7 

8 

i   ^ 

10 1 

ill 

12 

13 

li 

i   2 

3 

4 

5! 

VII 

;  6 

7 

8 

9i 

jlO 

11 

12 

13 1 

0 

CS 

B 
eS 

i...l.. 

a 
M 

2; 

0 

& 

3 

4 

1615 
5 

6 

i  7 
11 

8i 
12; 

i   9 

10 

13 

1 

2 

3; 

i  4 

V 

5       6 

7i 

i  8 

il2 

9 

10 

Hi 

13; 

1 

2 

"1639" 

3 

4 

i  5 

6i 

r-j- 

S" 

9 

10: 

11 

12 

13 

1; 

i   2 

III 

3  1    4 

5I 

i   6 

iio 

7 
11  i 

8 

9: 

12 

13 

:o: 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

C 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

C 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

'  Year  1435. 


1 1536,  year  Ajpula  died. 


THOHAS.  ] 


METHOD  OF  NUMBERING  THE  AOAUES. 
Table  No.  XVIII. 


45 


12     13 


6i 


9 


10  ill     12 13 ! 


M 

6 

6 

i 

1 

2 

3 

4 

I    5 

6 

7 

8: 

X        1 

;    9 

10 

11 

12: 

113 

:    4; 

1 
5 

2 
6 

3; 

11392 

IJL 

8 

i    « 

10 

11 

;12 

13 

1 

2 

i    3 

4 

5 

6 

VIII 

;    7 

8 

9 

10 

ill 

1    2] 

12 

13 

1 

3 

4 

6 

U 

i    7       8 

9; 

10 

11     12 

TI 

13; 

\    1 

2       3 

4 

■.    5 

6       7 

8 

9 
13 1 

10     11 

12 

1       2 

1  3 

||U0 

4 

'    5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

:    12 

13 

1 

2 

IV 

3 

4 

5 

« 

:    7 

8 

9 

10 

ill 

12 

13 

1  14U 

1 

■'5 

2 

1;    3 

4 

i    G 

7 

8 

9 

;10 

II 

11     12 

13 

6 

"3 

>>< 

d 
.Q 

;  1 

2 

3 

4; 

11 

:    5 

C  1     7 

8: 

1    91 

10     11 

liSS 

12 

13  |i    1 

2 

3: 

!    4* 

5 

C 

7i 

1    8 

9 

10 

11  : 

XIII 

;12 

13       1 

2; 

\    3 

4       5 

C; 

:    7: 

8       9 

1512 
|1»_ 

11 

12 
3 

13 
4 

1   i 

5j 

1    2 

:    6 

7 

8 

9j 

jlO 

11 

12 

13: 

1 

XI 

i    1 
\    5; 

2  1    3 

4i 

Tf 

6       7 

9 

\W 

11 

2 

12; 
3 

13t 

1 

\    4 

5 

6 

7! 

IX 

i    8 

9 

10 

11 

;i2 

\    3! 

13 

1 

2: 

4 

5 

1  160(1 
1     ^ 

7 

; 8 

9 

10: 

1  11 

12 

13 

1  \ 

2 

3 

4 

5\ 

VII 

1    6 

7       8 

9| 

jlO 

11     12 

13  i 

i 

1— ( 

1 

i    Ij 

2 

3 

4 

5 



G 

7 

8i 

\   9 

10 

11 

12  1 

il3 

1 

2 

3! 

V 

;    4 

5 

G 

7i 

;    8 

;12 

9 

10 

11: 

13 

1 

1608 

2 
10 

3 

4 

8 

5 
9 

1    7 

111 

12 

13 

1 

III 

\    2 

3 

4 

5 

i    6 

lio! 

7 

8 

9 
13 

11 

12 

1 

2 

): 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

1656 
11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

0 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

46 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


Table  XIX. 


M     S 


:i2: 


«j 

a 

s 

cS 

c8 

S 

1— 1 

1| 

2 

3 

4; 

i  5 

6 

7 

8i 

[ 

i  9 

10 

11 

12: 

Us 

1 

2 

3i 

5 

6 

7; 

9 

10 

11 

12; 

13 

1 

2: 

i  3 

4 

5 

6: 

:  7 

8 

9 

10; 

XII 

ill 

12 

13 

1; 

;  2 

3 

4 

5! 

i   «: 

7 

8 

9 

10: 

11 

12 

13: 

j  1 

2 

3 

: 

:  6 

6 

7 

8; 

X 

:  9 

10 

11 

12; 

il3 

1 

2 

3; 

^  4i 

5 

6 

7* 

8; 

9 

10 

11; 

;12 

13 

1 

2; 

;  3 

4 

5 

6! 

Till 

:  7 

8 

9 

10; 

111 

i  2! 

12 

13 

l| 

3 

4 

"  U16 

5 

6: 

7  1 8' 

VI 

9| 

jlO 

11  12 

13; 

0 

:  1 

2 

3 

4: 

;  5 

6 

7 

8i 

\   9 

VI 

10  1  11 

12! 

il3i 

1   2 

1  1440 

!  3 

4! 

5 

6 

7| 

1  8 

9 

10 

111 

112 

13 

1 

2i 

1  3 

I 
4 

V 

5 

6; 

1  7.. 

|ll| 

8 

9 

10; 

12 

13 

1161 
1 

2; 

3 

i 

5: 

1  6 

7 

8 

9; 

iio 

11 

12 

13; 

II 

;  1 

2   3 

4; 

I  5 
;  9- 

6   7 

8i 

10  11 

12 

13; 

1 

2 

3; 

;  4* 

5 

6 

7: 

;  8 

9 

10 

11; 

;12 

XI 

13 

II 

1 

2; 

\   3 

;  7i 

4 

5 

6L 

8 

9 

10 

11; 

12  13 

1; 

i  2 

3   4 

5: 

;  6 

a 

7 

LI 

8 

9; 

ilO 

11 

12 

13 1 

1 

^ 

0 

B 
0 

i  1 

;  5; 

2 
6 

3 

7 

4; 

18 

9; 

10 

11 

12 

il3 

1 

2 

3 

1  4 

5 

6 

7 

i  8 

IX 

9  1  10 

11 

112 

13 

1 

2 

i  3] 

4 

5 

6 

7i 

8 

9 

To. 

111 

12 

13 

li 

;  2 

3 

4 

5; 

i  6 

VII 

7   8 

9I 

ilO 

11  12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

"IT 

8 

5 

6 

7 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 
12 

9 
13 

10 

1 

11 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

!   1 

TOOMAB.i  METHOD  OF  NUMBERING  THE  AITAUES.  47 

If  I  am  correct  in  tlie  plan  of  the  table  given,  and  the  division  into 
Ahaues,  it  follows  that  the  rest  of  these  periods  in  the  grand  cycle  would 
be  numbered  as  shown  by  the  Roman  numerals  on  Table  XVII.  These 
numbers  agree  precisely  with  the  numbers  of  the  first  years  of  the  respect- 
ive Ahaues,  and  furnish,  as  heretofore  suggested,  an  explanation  of  the 
singular  method  of  enumerating  these  periods.  If  we  now  turn  to  Table 
XVI,  showing  the  periods  obtained  from  the  dates  on  Plates  XXX  and 
XXXI  of  the  Manuscript,  we  will  see  that  their  position  and  numbers 
agree  exactly  with  those  given  in  Table  XVII. 

As  tending  to  confirm  this  conclusion,  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to 
introduce  here  a  comparison  of  Maya  dates  with  those  of  the  Christian  era. 

As  the  designated  4  Kan  corresponds,  according  to  the  manuscript 
quoted,  with  the  year  1536,  the  last  year  of  that  Ahau  (10  Ix)  was  1542. 
Taking  this  as  a  starting  point,  I  have  given  on  the  table  the  year  of  our  ' 
era  corresponding  with  the  first  year  of  each  Ahau.  Now  let  us  test  this 
result  by  the  two  or  three  additional  dates  found  on  record,  and  which  the 
authorities  have  failed  to  make  agree  with  any  explanation  of  the  Maya 
calendar  heretofore  given. 

Bishop  Landa  (Relacion  de  Cosas,  §  41)  states  that  "the  Indians  say, 
for  example,  that  the  Spaniards  arrived  in  the  City  of  Merida  in  the  year 
of  the  nativity  of  our  Lord  and  Master,  1541,  which  was  precisely  the  first 
j^ear  of  the  11th  Ahau."  We  may  assume  as  certain  that  the  Indians  gave 
the  bishop  no  such  date  as  1541,  or  any  other  ytar  of  the  Christian  era  or 
Gregorian  Calendar,  as  they  were  wholly  unacquainted  with  that  system; 
the  year  given  must  have  been  according  to  their  method  of  designating 
dates,  or  by  counting  back  the  years. 

As  he  understood  the  twenty  "counted  years"  to  constitute  an  Ahau, 
and  supposed  one  of  these  .periods  to  follow  another  without  any  interven- 
ing years,  he  would  probably  take  9  Muluc  of  the  13th  Ahavi  as  the  first  of 
the  11th,  which,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  table,  is  1541,  exactly 
the  date  required. 

It  is  evident  that  either  he  or  the  author  of  the  Perez  manuscript  was 
mistaken,  for  accoi'ding  to  the  latter  the  13th  Ahau  ended  with  the  year 


48 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


1542  (whether  we  count  20  or  21  years  to  the  Ahau),  while  according  to 
Landa  it  closed  with  1540. 

He  asserts,  while  writing  his  work  in  Spain  in  1566,  that:  "It  is  now 
120  years  since  Mayapan  was  destroyed."  As  this  number  could  have 
been  obtained  only  by  counting  Ahaues,  it  must  have  been  understood  by 
him  as  covering  just  six  of  these  periods,  and  hence  the  correct  number 
would  be  144  years  instead  of  120.  This  number  carries  us  back  to  the 
year  1422  or  1423,  the  last  of  the  Xth  or  first  of  the  Vlllth  Ahau.  Co- 
gulludo  places  the  destruction  of  Mayapan  about  1420  of  the  Christian  era; 
the  Perez  manuscript  places  it  in  the  8th  Ahau.  As  the  above  calculation 
places  it  in  the  last  of  the  tenth  or  the  first  of  the  eighth,  the  discrepancy  is 
but  slight,  and  the  agreement  as  close  as  could  be  expected  in  an  attempt 
to  reconcile  such  general  statements. 

Senor  Perez  seems  to  have  taken  as  his  chief  authority,  in  comparing 
dates  of  the  two  systems,  the  statements  of  certain  writers  to  the  effect  that 
the  year  1392  of  our  era  corresponded  with  the  year  7  Cauac  of  the  8th 
Ahau  of  the  Maya  system.^ 

Unfortunately  he  mentions  but  one  of  these  authorities — Don  Cosme 
de  Burgos — whose  work  he  informs  us  "has  been  lost." 

1 "  Serie  de  los  anos  corridos  en  dos  Ahau  Kaf  uu,  tomando  su  principio  en  1392  en  que  pas6  segun 
lo3  manuscritos  el  8  Ahau  en  el  aflo  7  Cauac : 

8«  Ahau  Katun. 


1392 7  Cauac. 

1393 8  Kan. 

1394 9Muluc. 

1395 lOHix. 

1396 11  Cauac. 

1397 12  Kan. 

1416 5  Cauac. 

1417 6  Kan. 

1418 7Muluc. 

1419 8Hix. 

1420 9  Cauac. 

1421 10  Kan. 


1398 13MuIuc. 

1399  .......  IHix. 

1400 2  Cauac. 

1401 3  Kan. 

1402 4Muluc. 

1403 5Hix. 


1404 H  Cauac. 

1405 7  Kan. 

1406 SMuluc. 

1407 9Hix. 

1408 10  Cauac. 

1409 11  Kan. 


6=  Ahau  Katun. 


1422 llMuluc. 

1423 12Hix. 

1424 13  Cauac. 

1425 IKan. 

1426 2Muluc. 

1427 3Hix. 


1428 4  Cauac. 

1429 5  Kan. 

1430 ,6Muluc. 

1431 '7  His. 

1432 8  Cauac. 

1433 9  Kan. 


1410 12Muluc. 

1411 13Hix. 

1412 1  Cauac. 

1413 2  Kan. 

1414 3Muluc. 

1415 4Hix. 

1434 lOMulnc. 

1435 11  Hix. 

1436 12  Cauac. 

1437 13  Kan. 

1438 IMuluc. 

1439 2  Hix. 


"  El  punto  de  apojo  do  que  se  valen  para  acomodarlos  Ahau  Katunes  S,  los  alios  de  la  era  Cristiana 
y  contar  los  perlodos  y  siglos  que  en  ella  han  pasado,  y  entender  y  saber  concordar  los  aBos  que  citan 
los  indios  en  sus  historias  con  los  que  corresponden  i  los  do  dicha  era,  es  el  aBo  de  1392,  el  cual  segun 
todos  los  manuscritos,  y  algunos  de  ellos  llpoyiindose  en  el  testimonio  de  D.  Cosme  de  Burgos  escritor  y 
conquistador  de  esta  peninsula  cuyos  escritos  se  ban  perdido,  fu<S  el  referido  afio,  en  el  cual  cay6  7  Cauac 
y  did  priucipio  eu  se  seguudo  dia  el  8  Ahau;  y  de  este  como  de  un  truuco  se  ordenan  todos  los  que 
nnteccdieron  y  sucedieron  segun  el  orden  numeric©  que  guardan  y  va  espuesto :  y  como  con  este  concuer- 
dan  todas  las  series  que  se  hallan  en  los  manuscritos,  es  ueccsario  creerlo  como  incontrovertible." 


METHOD  OF  NUMBERING  THE  AHAUBS. 


49 


We  are  therefore  left  in  doubt  as  to  whether  the  calculation  necessary 
in  comparing  the  date  in  one  system  with  the  same  date  in  the  other  was 
made  by  his  authorities  or  was  his  own.  It  is  evident  that  it  must  have 
been  made  by  them  or  by  him,  as  it  could  not  have  been  given  by  the 
Indians.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  based  upon  the  theory  that  the  7  Cauac 
mentioned  was  the  first  year  of  the  Ahau  in  which  the  event  noted  occurred, 
a  supposition  by  no  means  necessary. 

Following  out  this  supposition,  he  is  compelled  to  place  the  death  of 
Ajpula  in  the  year  1493,  thus  antedating  this  event  by  43  years.  It  also 
leads  him  into  the  absurdity  of  placing  the  first  arrival  of  the  Spaniards 
on  the  coast  of  Yucatan — which  occurred  in  the  2d  Ahau — between  the 
years  1464  and  1488. 

In  order  to  make  this  plain,  I  refer  to  the  Tables  XVIII  and  XIX 
constructed  on  his  theory,  and  also  to  the  continuous  list  of  years  covering 
the  8th,  6th,  4th,  2d,  and  13th  Ahaues  (Table  XX).  The  year  1392  and 
that  in  which  he  places  the  death  of  Ajpula  (1493)  are  designated  on  the 
tables  and  on  the  list  by  a  star. 

Table  XX. 


VIIIth  Ahau. 

7  Cauac 1392* 

8  Kan 1393 

9  Muluc 1394 

10  Ix 1395 

U  Cauac 1396 

1-^  K.in 1397 

13  Muluc 1398 

1  Is 1399 

2  Cauac 1400 

3  Kan 1401 

4  Muluc 1402 

5  Ix 1403 

6  Cauac 1404 

7  Kan 1405 

8  Muluc 1400 

9  Ix 1407 

10  Cauac 1408 

11  Kau  1409 

12  Muluc 1410 

13  Ix 1411 

1  Cauac 1412 

2  Kan 1413 

3  Muluc 1414 

4  Ix 1415 

4  M  T 


VlTH  Ahau. 

5  Cauac 1416 

6  Kan 1417 

7  Muluc 1418 

8  Ix 1419 

9  Cauac 1420 

10  Kan 1421 

11  Muluc 1422 

12  Ix 1423 

13  Cauac... 1424 

1  Kan 1425 

2  Muluc 1426 

3  Ix 1427 

4  Cauac 1428 

5  Kan 1429 

6  Muluc 1430 

7  Ix 1431 

8  Cauac 1432 

9  Kan 1433 

10  Muluc 1434 

11  Ix 1435 

12  Cauac 1436 

13  Kan 1437 

1  Muluc 1438 

2  Ix 1439 


IVth  Ahau. 

3  Cauac 1440 

4  Kau 1441 

5  Muluc 1442 

6  Ix 1443 

7  Cauac 1444 

8  Kan 1445 

9  Muluc 1446 

10  Ix 1447 

11  Cauac 1448 

12  Kau 1449 

13  Muluc 1450 

1  Ix 1451 

2  Cauac 1452 

3  Kan 1453 

4  Muluc 1454 

5  Ix  1455 

6  Cauac 1456 

7  Kan 1457 

8  Muluc 1458 

9  Ix 1,559 

10  Cauac 1460 

11  Kau 1461 

12  Muluc 1462 

13  Ix 1463 


50 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MAiqUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 


llD   AlIAU. 

1  Cauac 1464 

2  Kan 1465 

3  Muluc 1466 

4  Ix ...1467 

5  Cauac 1468 

6  Kan 1469 

7  Muluc 1470 

8  Is 1471 

9  Cauac 1472 

10  Kan 1473 

11  Muluc 1474 

1-2  Ix 1475 

13  Cauac 1476 

1  Kau 1477 

2  Muluc 1478 

3  Ix 1479 

4  Cauac 1480 

5  Kau 1481 

6  Muluc 1482 

7  Ix 1483 

8  Cauac 1484 

9  Kan 1485 

10  Muluc 1486 

11  Ix 1487 


XIIIth  Ah.\u. 

12  Cauac 1488 

13  Kan 1489 

1  Muluc 1490 

2  Ix 1491 

3  Cauac !l492 

4  Kan *1493 

5  Muluc 1494 

6  Ix 1495 

7  Cauac 1496 

8  Kan 1497 

9  Muluc 1498 

10  Ix 1499 

11  Cauac 1500 

12  Kau 1501 

13  Muluc 1502 

1  Ix 1503 

2  Cauac 1504 

3  Kan 1505 

4  Muluc 1506 

5  Ix 1507 

6  Cauac 1508 

7  Kan 1509 

8  Muluc 1510 

9  Ix 1511 

IXth  Ahau. 

8  Cauac 1536 

9  Kan 1537 

10  Muluc 1538 

11  Ix 1539 

12  Cauac 1540 

13  Kan 1541 


XIth  Ahau. 

10  Cauac 1512 

11  Kan 1513 

12  Muluc 1514 

13  Ix 1515 

1  Cauac 1516 

2  Kan 1517 

3  Muluc 1518 

4  Ix 1519 

5  Cauac 1520 

6  Kan 1521 

7  Muluc 1522 

8  Ix 1523 

9  Cauac 1524 

10  Kan 1525 

11  Muluc 1526 

12  Ix 1527 

13  Cauac 1528 

1  Kan 1529 

2  Muluc 1530 

3  Ix 1531 

4  Cauac 1532 

5  Kan 1533 

6  Muluc 1534 

7  Ix 1535 


Following  out  this  theory  we  will  have  to  place  the  taking  of  Merida 
by  the  Spaniards  (1541)  in  the  sixth  year  of  the  IXth  Ahau,  instead  of  the 
first  of  the  XIth.  As  Landa  went  to  Yucatan  about  the  year  1549,  we  are 
not  warranted  in  supposing  that  he  made  an  error  of  thirty  years  in  refer- 
ence to  an  event  that  occurred  but  a  few  years  before  his  arrival. 

It  is  apparent  from  these  facts  that,  assuming,  as  Perez  does,  that  the 
year  1392  was  the  year  7  Cauac,  and  the  first  of  an  Ahau,  conflicts  with 
every  other  date  left  on  record. 

I  think  we  may  therefore  take  for  granted  that  there  was  some  error 
in  the  calculation  by  which  this  author,  or  those  from  whom  he  quotes, 
obtained  this  date.  As  this  calculation  antedates  the  death  of  Ajpula  just 
43  years,  let  us  add  that  number  to  1392:  This  gives  us  1435.  If  we  turn 
now  to  Table  XVII,  made  according  to  my  theory,  we  find  that  7  Cauac 


TimMAs.i  METHOD  OF  NUMBEEING  THE  AHAUES.  51 

of  the  8th  Ahau  is  the  year  1435,  and  that  by  adding  the  43  years — the 
number  Perez  has  antedated  the  death  of  Ajpula — all  the  dates  agree  sub- 
stantially, and  also  drop  into  their  proper  places  in  the  Maya  Calendar. 

As  the  authorities  to  whom  Perez  refers  obtained  their  information 
from  the  Indians,  the  date  was  as  a  matter  of  course  given  according  to  the 
Maya  method  of  reckoning  time;  hence  the  "year  7  Cauac  and  8th  Ahau" 
are  most  likely  to  be  correct.  It  is  vei'y  probable  this  was  the  date  of  some 
notable  event  in  the  history  of  that  people,  and  as  it  gives  when  corrected 
the  year  1435, 1  am  of  the  opinion  it  relates  to  the  destruction  of  Mayapan, 
which,  according  to  the  manuscript  translated  by  Stephens,  occurred  in  the 
8th  Ahau. 

Another  error  arising  from  this  mistake  on  the  part  of  Perez  was  that  he 
was  forced  to  place  the  death  of  Ajpula  in  the  6th  year  of  the  13tli  Ahau, 
instead  of  in  the  1 8th  as  given  by  his  manuscript,  in  order  to  get  it  in  4  Kan. 
An  examination  of  Tables  No.  XVIII  and  XIX,  which  are  constructed 
according  to  his  theory,  will  show  that  there  is  no  Ahau  but  number  I,  in 
which  4  Kan  is  the  18th  year.  This  is  true  no  matter  where  we  com- 
mence dividing  the  grand  cycle,  according  to  his  idea. 

As  Table  XVIII  commences  the  division  with  the  last  year  of  a  grand 
cycle,  I  have  given  at  the  same  place  another  (XIX)  on  his  plan,  commenc- 
ing with  the  fourth  year  of  this  period,  in  order  to  illustrate  the  above 
statement. 

Taking  into  consideration  all  the  evidence  I  can  obtain  bearing  upon 
the  points  now  under  consideration  I  am  forced  to  the  following  conclusions: 

1  St.  That  the  series  of  years  began  with  Cauac. 

2d.  That  the  first  year  of  a  grand  cycle  was  also  the  first  year  of  an 
Ahau. 

3d.  That  the  thirteen  Ahaues  of  a  grand  cycle  were  numbered  as 
shown  in  Table  XVII. 

4tli.  That  they  were  numbered  according  to  the  number  of  their  first 
years  respectively. 

But  it  is  best  perhaps  for  me  to  call  attention  here  to  the  following  facts 
in  reference  to  the  numbering  of  these  periods. 

First.  That  the  division  of  the  grand  cycle  according  to  the  plan  I 


52  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANDSCEIPT  TROANO. 

have  adoj^ted,  which  is  repeated  on  the  annexed  Table  XXI,  does  not 
preclude  us  from  accepting  Perez's  theory  that  the}^  were  numbered  from 
the  second  day  of  the  first  year,  which,  as  the  periods  begin  with  Cauac, 
would  be  Ahau.  This  would  change  the  position  of  the  Ahaues  so  far  as 
their  numbers  are  concerned,  and  they  would  then  stand  as  shown  in  this 
table;  that  is,  the  first  one  in  the  grand  cycle  would  be  No.  II,  the  next 
XIII,  and  so  on  in  the  usual  order.  But  one  very  serious  objection  to  this 
plan  of  numbering  is  that  4  Kan  of  the  Xlllth  Ahau  would  be  the  sixth 
instead  of  the  eighteenth  year. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  only  foundation  Perez  had  for  thus  num- 
bering these  periods  is  the  fact  that  the  name  "Ahau"  was  applied  to  them. 
It  is  probable  that  it  was  sometimes  so  applied  on  account  of  their  impor- 
tance, but  a  careful  study  of  the  language  of  Landa  and  Cogulludo  lead 
me  to  believe  that  Katun  was  the  name  by  which  they  were  usually  desig- 
nated. The  latter  author  gives  this  term  only.  Landa  simply  remarks  that 
"they  counted  13  twenties  with  one  of  the  twenty  letters  of  their  month 
which  is  called  Ahau,  without  order  and  alternate  only  as  on  the  border  of 
the  wheel  above;  they  called  these,  in  their  language,  Katunes."^ 

The  most  serious  objection  which,  so  far  as  I  see,  can  be  urged  against 
my  theory  is  that  the  series  of  Ahaues  does  not  begin  with  XIII,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  first  of  the  grand  cycle  is  not  XIII.  But  this  objec- 
tion applies  with  equal  foi'ce  to  Perez's  scheme.  If  we  adopt  the  division 
shown  in  Table  XVIII,  and  suppose  the  numbering  to  corre.spond  with  the 
first  year  (Cauac)  of  each  period,  we  would  then  commence  the  grand 
cycle  with  the  Xlllth  Ahau.  To  illustrate  this  I  give  a  table  (XXII)  sim- 
ilar to  XVIII  so  far  as  the  division  of  the  grand  cycle  is  concerned,  but 
numbered  as  above  suggested. 

1  "No  solo  tenian  los  indios  cuenta  en  el  aBo  y  meses,  como  quefla  dicho,  y  sefialado  atras  pero 
tenian  cierto  modo  de  contar  los  tiempos  y  sus  cosas  por  edades,  las  quales  hazian  de  veynte  en  veynte 
afios,  contaiido  XIII  veyutes  con  una  do  las  XX  letras  do  los  mescs  que  llamau  Ahau,  sin  ordcn  siuo 
retruecanados  como  pareceran  en  la  siguiente  raya  redonda;  Ilaman  les  a  estos  en  su  lengua  Katuries, 
y  con  ellos  tenian  a  maravilla  cuenta  con  sus  edades,  y  la  fue  assi  facil  al  viejo  do  quien  en  el  priinero 
capitulo  dixe  avia  trescientos  auos  accordarse  dellos."     (Landa,  Relacion  de  las  Cosas,  ^  XLI.) 


METHOD  OF  NUMBERING  THE  AHAUES. 


53 


Table  XXI. 


6 

B 

"3 

1— 1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

V 

1 

I 
2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

I 
3 

V 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

I 
10 

I 
11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

0 

10 

11 

12 

III 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

i 

a 

^ 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

X 

10 

I 
11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

I 
4 

X 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

TH 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

1] 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

1 
4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

f) 

7 

8 

9 

10 

I 
11 

■I 

12 

13 

^ 

o 

c3 

3 

es 

3 
g 

1— ( 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

I 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

XII 

10 

11  1  12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

X 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 
[II 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

i 

H 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

VI 

5   6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8. 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

I 
3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2  1  3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

I 
1 

I 
2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

X] 

12 

II 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

54 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


This  plan  has  this  fact  in  its  favor:  it  not  only  throws  the  Xllltli  Ahau 
at  the  commencement  of  the  grand  C3'cle,  but  4  Kan  is  also  its  18th  year. 

Table  XXII. 


» 

o 

a 

OS 

a 

c3 

s 

cl 

M 

S 

1— 1 

O 

1   UM 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 
12 

9 
13 

10 
1 

11 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

1  < 

I  11 

12 

13 

2 

3 

4 

5  ^ 

I     6 

.  7 

8 

9  ^ 

1  1207  iS 

'  10 

11 

12 

13  [> 

I        - 

~»- 

\ 

I     1 

i   2 

3 

4:j 

\\   5 

6 

7 

8:5 

^i  9 

10 

11 

12!  1 

XIII 

>;i3 

1       2 

3;^ 

■\  * 

5       6 

7!'^ 

M  ^^ 

9  j  10 

2  ;i' 

>     12; 

13      i 

U  3 

4       5 

(i'\ 

XI 

^10  i 

>;     7 

8  1     9 

>     11 

il2 

13 

li 

1  2 

3 

4 

5i 

!   6i 

7 

8 

T1255' 

h 

13; 

10; 

11      12 

1 

1— 1 

cS 

;     1 

2 

3 

4: 

;  5 
\  9 

6 

I 
10 

7 

X 

11 

8i 

12! 

|l3 

1  M 

1       2 

3! 

5       6 

Ii>79 

7 

8| 

9 

10 

11; 

112 

13 

1 

2; 

1   3 

1   7 

4 

V 

8 

5 
'  9 

6\ 
10: 

ill 

1  2^ 

12     13 

1: 

31    4 

TT303 

5 

G: 

7 

8 

9: 

UO 

11 

12 

13; 

V 

;   1 

2 

3 

4; 

i  5 

6 

7 

8^ 

!  9 

113! 

10 

11 

12; 

1 
5' 

2 
6 

3 

"7: 

4; 

i   8 

9 

10 

11; 

il2 
\  3 

13 

I] 
4 

1 
11 

5 

2; 
6! 

i   7 

8  1     9 

10: 

;lli 

12     13 

11.1 

1 

5: 

2i 

3 4' 

1    ^ 
10 

■7       8 
11     12 

9; 
13; 

d 

0 

K 

1 
0 

1 

2 

3 

4; 

5 
9: 

6'    7 

8: 

10     11 

^375 

|l2 

13 

i  1 

2 

3: 

I    4 

5 

6 

7| 

!    8 

9 

10 

11: 

jl2 

X 

13 

(I 

1 

2 

i  3 

i    7! 

4 

5 

6: 

8 

9 

11399 

|10 

11 

i  12 

13 

1  i 

;    2 

3 

4 

5; 

;    6 

7 

8 

9: 

10 

3 

11 

i. 
12 

13; 

i 

1    1 

\      5: 

2 

3 

4I 

6 

7 

"il«3~ 

8 

9 

:10 

11 

12; 

;13 

1 

2 

3: 

!    4 

5 

6 

7*! 

1    8 

9 

II 

10 

11^ 

il2 

13 

1 

2  ; 

4 

5 

~H47~ 

6 

7 

:    8       9 
12     13 

10  j 

1; 

11 

;    2 

3       4 

5! 

!    6 

7 

^i 

8 

9 

iio 

11 

12 

13! 

0 

^ 

0 

1! 

2 

3 

4 

1471 

5 

0 

7 

8; 

9 

10 

11 

12; 

13 

1 

2 

3! 

4 

5       6 

7! 

8 

9 

10 

Ill 

13 

1 

'"11495 
1  2 

3 

!    4 
8 

5 
9 

6 
10 

i    7, 

ill 

12 

13 

1 

!    2 

11 

3       4 

5 

I    6 

7 

8 

9; 

:10| 

11 

12 

■iisU" 

13 

1 

:o: 

i    2 

3 

4! 

i    5 

6 

7 

8! 

:    9 

10 

11 

12  i 

13 

XI 

1 

II 

2 

31 

1    4t 

5 

6 

7  : 

1    8i 

9 

10 

|ll 

12 

il3 
4 

1 
5 

2j 

!    3 

!    7 

8 

9 

10  i 

111 

XI 

12     13 

li 

!    2 

3       4 

5i 

!   6; 

7       8 

9 
"13I 

10 

11 

i2' 

■1435. 


TI.OMA..J  METOOD  OF  NUMBEEIIs'G  THE  AHAUES.  55 

Be  this  as  it  may,  there  is  nothing  in  Maya  history  or  the  calendar 
which  makes  it  necessary  that  the  grand  cycle  should  commence  with  the 
Xlllth  Ahau.  As  suggested  by  Perez  and  Dr.  Valentini,  this  number  of 
the  series  may  have  been  selected  as  the  one  with  which  to  begin  their 
count  because  of  some  notable  event  in  their  history  occurring  in  it.  The 
serious  objection  to  the  plan  of  Table  XXII  is  that  it  requires  the  Xlllth 
Ahau  to  begin  with  the  last  year  of  a  grand  cycle,  which,  I  think,  is  suffi- 
cient to  condemn  it. 

Perez's  statement  bearing  on  this  subject  is  as  follows : 

"As  the  Indians  considered  the  number  13  as  the  initial  number,  it  is 
probable  that  some  remarkable  event  had  happened  in  that  year,  because, 
when  the  Spaniards  arrived  in  the  Peninsula,  the  Indians  then  counted  the 
8th  as  the  1st,  that  being  the  date  at  which  their  ancestors  came  to  settle 
there;  and  an  Indian  writer  proposed  that  they  should  abandon  that  order 
also,  and  begin  counting  from  the  11th,  solely  because  the  conquest  had 
happened  in  that  Ahau."     (Cron.  Antig.,  §  IX,  Valentini's  Trans.)  ^ 

I  have  already  quoted  from  Perez,  as  pertaining  to  the  calendar,  the 
statement  in  reference  to  what  he  behoves  to  be  another  kind  of  cycle  or 
method  of  computation.  I  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  numbers 
given  might  be  found  by  running  up  the  columns  of  our  table  of  years.  I 
will  now  explain  what  I  believe  to  have  been  the  object  and  use  of  these 
numbers. 

"They  had  another  number  whicli  the}'  called  Ua  Katun,  which  served 
them  as  a  ke}"  by  which  to  adjust  and  find  the  Katunes,  and  following  the 
order  of  their  march,  it  falls  on  the  two"  days  of  Uaijeh  liaah  and  revolves 
to  the  end  of  certain  years;  Katunes  13,  9,  5,  1,  10,  6,  2,  11,  7,  3,  12,  8,  4." 

Perez  quotes  this,  as  he  states,  in  the  exact  words  of  his  authority 
(unfortunately  not  given).  As  Bancroft's  translation  omfts  the  "two"  be- 
fore "days,"  I  have  given  here  a  translation  of  the  original  as  found  in 
Perez's  Cronologie  Antigua^ 

lAs  neither  Valentini's  nor  Brasseurs'  translation  is  literal,  I  will  give  the  original: 

"Es  probable  qne  princijiio  en  el  numero  13  por  haber  acontecido  en  el  algnu  suceso  notable  pues 

despues  se  contaban  por  el  8;  y  acabada  la  conqiiista  de  esta  peninsula  propuso  un  escritor  indio  comen- 

zasen  &  contar  en  lo  sucesivo  cstas  ^poeas  por  el  11  Alian  por  que  en  el  se  Terific6  aqnella." 

^Nottho  ^^ second  day  of  the  Uayeh  haab"  as  Perez  seems,  as  appears  from  his  comment,  to  have 

understood  the  expressiou.     It  is  strange  that  he  should  have  so  perversely  misinterpreted  his  own 

manuscripts. 


56 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TEOANO. 


We  see  by  reference  to  the  annexed  table  of  years  (XXIII),  which 
contains  exactly  one  cycle,  that  by  commencing  at  the  bottom  of  the  right- 
hand  or  Ix  column  and  running  up,  we  find  the  numbers  given  in  the  quo- 
tation and  in  precisely  the  same  order.     As  these  figures  mark  the  terminal 
Table  XXIII.     years  of  the  lustres  it  is  evident  that  the  authority  quoted 
applied  the  name  "Katun"  to  these  periods,  and  that  this 
word  is  not  used  here  as  an  equivalent  of  "Ahau." 

If  the  series  began  with  Cauac,  as  shown  by  this 
table,  these  numbers  would  then  denote  Ix  years;  but 
if  it  commenced  with  Kan  they  would  then  be  Cauac 
years.  In  either  case  it  is  evident  that  by  remembering 
these  numbers  and  their  order  it  would  be  an  easy  matter 
to  locate  or  give  the  number  of  any  year  in  the  cycle, 
and  in  the  grand  cycle  also,  if  they  had  any  method  of 
numbering  the  cycles  But  I  am  unable  to  see  how 
this  could  be  of  much  service  in  counting  the  Ahaues, 
and  am  therefore  inclined  to  believe  that  this  method  of 
counting  back  was  chiefly  in  vogue  among  the  common 
people,  they  being  unable  to  fully  understand  and  use 
the  complicated  calendar  of  the  priests.  Although  Landa, 
when  speaking  of  the  facility  with  which  they  counted 
back  the  years,  evidently  alludes  to  the  Ahaues,  yet  it  is  quite  probable  the 
old  Indian  who  traced  back  their  histor}^  for  three  hundred  years  did  so  by 
the  use  of  this  key,  unless  he  was  a  priest. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  expression  "they  fall 
on  the  two  days  of  TJayeh  haab"  [intercalated  days]. 

In  the  four  plates  of  the  Dresden  Codex  heretofore  mentioned  (25-28), 
which  certainly  refer  to  the  feasts  of  the  intercalated  days,  we  notice  that 
the  left-hand  column  of  each  contains  the  characters  of  but  two  days — the 
25th  the  days  Eb  and  Ben,  the  last  two  of  the  intercalated  days  of  the 
Muluc  years;  the  26th,  Caban  and  Ezanab,  the  last  two  of  the  Ix  years, 
and  so  on. 

Although  these,  as  here  noted,  may  not  have  any  reference  to  this 


6 

a 

cS 

1— 1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

THOMAS]  METHOD  OF  NUMBEEING  THE  AHAUES.  57 

method  of  counting,  their  use  in  this  manner  shows  that  they  were  consid- 
ered important. 

If  the  lustres  ended  with  an  Ix  year,  as  I  have  assumed,  Ezanab  would 
be  the  last  of  the  intercalated  days.  Now  as  will  be  seen  by  carefully 
examining  the  calendar  for  one  year  as  given  in  Table  II,  page  8,  the  num- 
ber of  the  last  intercalated  day  will  always  be  the  same  as  the  first  day  of 
the  year.  Having  thus  determined  the  name  and  number  of  the  year,  and 
remembering  the  series  as  given  in  the  quotation,  it  was  an  easy  matter  to 
count  back  to  any  desired  year.  Let  me  illustrate  this:  Suppose  that  at 
the  close  of  an  annual  feast  of  Uayeh  haab  which  has  ended  on  Ezanab,  an 
Indian  was  desirous  of  determining  what  year  of  the  cycle  had  just  termi- 
nated. Knowing  the  day  to  be  1  Ezanab,  he  knows  by  this  that  the  year 
was  1  Ix;  remembering  the  numbers  of  the  key,  he  commences  his  count 
with  1,  and  running  back  thus:  1,  10,  6,  2,  11,  7,  3,  12,  8,  4,  ascertains  that 
the  year  is  the  40th  of  the  cycle  (10x4). 

A  little  careful  study  of  this  subject  will  suffice  to  convince  any  ohe  at 
all  acquainted  with  this  calendar  that  by  simply  knowing  the  number  and 
name  of  the  last  intercalated  day  of  any  year  will  be  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  determine  what  year  of  the  cycle  it  is  If  he  forgets  the  key  he  can 
easily  find  it  by  the  continued  subtraction  of  4,  commencing  with  1 3,  adding 
1 3  when  the  number  to  be  subtracted  from  is  4  or  less  than  4.  The  only  thing 
necessary  to  be  remembered  is  that  the  years  Cauac,  Kan,  Muluc,  Ix  ter- 
minate, respectively,  with  the  days  Akbal,  Lamat,  Ben,  and  Ezanab. 

Suppose  the  last  day  of  a  certain  year  to  be  9  Lamat,  this  gives  9  Kan 
as  the  year;  the  next  year  would  be  10  Muluc,  the  next  11  Ix,  the  last  of 
the  lustre.  If  we  remember  the  key,  we  count  back  the  following  num- 
bers or  lustres:  11,  7,  3,  12,  8,  4,  showing  that  11  Ix  would  be  the  24th 
year  of  the  cycle  and  9  Kan  the  22d.  These  calculations  are  based  upon 
the  supposition  that  Cauac  was  the  first  year  of  the  cycle,  but  the  same 
rule  will  apply  with  Kan  or  any  other  as  the  first  of  the  series. 

I  think  it  probable  that  this  will  furnish  an  explanation  of  the  phrase 
"they  fall  in  the  two  days  of  Uayeb  haab  and  i-eturn  to  the  end  of  certain 
years."  The  manuscript  from  which  this  statement  was  taken  by  Perez  was 
evidently  written  by  one  not  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  system. 


58  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TEOANO. 

On  the  title-page  and  on  Plates  XX-XXIII  (see  Plates  I-IV)  are  cer- 

•  «  0 

tain  red  semicircnlar  or  crescent-shaped  figures  like  this  Bij^ygj  Avhich  we 


have  good  reasons  for  believing  served  as  characters  to  denote  one  of  the 
Maya  periods,  either  the  Ahau,  Cycle,  Indication,  or  part  of  the  grand  C3^cle. 
This  is  the  proper  place  to  discuss  their  signification ;  but  as  this  can  be  done 
more  satisfactorily  after  we  have  learned  what  we  can  in  reference  to  the 
figures  given  on  these  jjlates  and  the  subjects  to  which  they  relate,  I  will 
now  proceed  to  give  such  interpretations  of  the  figures  and  characters  on 
them  as  I  believe  are  waranted  by  the  discovei'ies  I  have  made. 


CHAPTER    III. 

EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  AND  CHARACTERS  ON  PLATES 
XX-XXIII  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO  AND  25-28  OF 
THE  DRESDEN  CODEX. 

As  heretofore  stated,  the  figures  that  occupy  the  spaces  on  Plates  XX- 
XXIII^  appear  to  relate,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  close  and  commencement  of 
the  more  important  periods  of  time.  I  have  already  given  my  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  blue  figure  in  the  upper  compartment  of  Plate  XXIII 
represents  an  Ahau,  and  tliat  the  piercing  of  the  eye  with  the  dagger  sig- 
nifies that  the  last  year  of  tlie  period  has  arrived  and  is  about  to  close. 

Referring  to  Landa's  Belacion  de  Cosas  §§  XXXV-XXXVIII,  I  find  the 
following  account  of  the  religious  festivals  which  occurred  during  the  inter- 
calated or  closing  days  of  the  old  and  the  commencement  of  the  new  year, 
each  of  the  four  years,  Kan,  Muluc,  Ix,  and  Cauac,  having  its  own  peculiar 
ceremonies. 

As  this  is  really  the  key  to  the  explanation  of  the  figures  on  the  four 
plates  mentioned,  I  quote  his  statement  in  fall,  translated  from  Brasseur's 
French,  giving  the  original  Spanish  in  Appendix  No.  L 

''XXXV. — Fetes  of  supplemental  days — Sacrifices  of  the  commencement  of  the 
nerv  year  of  the  sign  Kan. 

"It  was  the  custom  in  all  the  cities  of  Yucatan  that  there  should  be  at 
each  of  the  four  entrances  of  the  place — that  is  to  say,  the  east,  west,  north, 
and  south — two  heaps  of  stone  facing  each  other,  intended  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  two  feasts  of  unlucky  days.  These  feasts  took  place  in  the  following 
manner: 

'  The  reader  is  reminded  again  that  Plates  XX-XXIII  of  the  Mannscript  are  the  same  as  our 
Plates  I-IV,  a  fact  which  will  uot  be  rei)eated  hereafter  in  the  text. 

09 


60  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TROANO. 

"The  year  of  which  the  dominical  letter  was  Kan  the  omen  was  Hobnil, 
and,  according-  to  the  belief  of  the  Yucatecs,  they  both  reigned  in  the  region 
of  the  south.  This  year,  therefore,  they  fabricated  a  hollow  image  or  figure 
of  baked  earth,  of  the  idol  which  they  called  Kan-n-Uuyeyah,  and  carried 
it  to  the  heap  of  dry  stones  which  was  on  the  south  side.  They  elected  a 
chief  from  the  citizens,  at  whose  house  they  celebrated  the  feasts  of  these 
days.  At  this  ceremony  they  made  also  the  statue  of  another  g-od,  named 
Bolon-Zacah,  which  they  placed  in  the  house  of  the  chief  elect,  in  a  spot 
where  every  one  could  approach. 

"This  done,  the  nobles,  the  priest,  and  the  citizens  assembled  together. 
They  returned,  by  a  road  swept  and  ornamented  with  arches  and  foliage,  to 
the  two  piles  of  stone,  where  they  found  the  statue,  around  which  they 
gathered  with  much  devotion.  The  priest  then  perfumed  it  with  forty- 
nine  grains  of  bruised  maize  mixed  with  incense.  The  nobles  placed  their 
incense  together  in  the  censer  of  the  idol  and  perfumed  it  in  their  turn. 
The  maize  mixed  with  the  priest's  incense  is  called  zacah,  and  that  which 
the  nobles  present  is  called  chahalie.  Having  incensed  the  image,  they  cut 
off  the  head  of  a  fowl  and  presented  to  it. 

"When  this  was  finished  they  placed  the  statue  on  a  litter  called 
Kante,  and  on  its  shouldei's  an  'angel'  as  an  omen  of  water  and  the  good 
year  which  they  should  have.  As  to  these  'angels,'  they  were  frightful  in 
appearance. 

"Then  they  carried  the  statue,  dancing  with  much  gaiety,  to  the  house 
of  the  chief,  where  he  found  the  other  statue  of  Bolon-Zacab.  While  they 
were  on  the  way  one  of  them  carried  to  the  nobles  and  the  priest  a  drink 
composed  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  grains  of  burnt  maize,  which 
they  called  Picula-Kakla,  and  all  partook  of  it  at  the  same  time.  Arrived 
at  the  chiefs  house,  they  placed  the  image  which  they  carried,  face  to  face 
with  the  statue  which  was  already  there,  and  made  many  offerings  of  drinks 
and  viands,  of  meat  and  fish.  These  offerings  were  afterwards  divided  among 
the  strangers  who  were  present,  and  they  gave  the  priest  only  a  leg  of 
venison. 

"Others  drew  blood  from  themselves  by  scarifying  their  ears,  and 
anointed  with  it  a  stone  which  they  had  as  an  idol,  called  Kanal-Acautun. 


THOMAB]   FESTIVALS  AT  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  KAN  YEARS.     61 

They  modeled  a  heart  from  the  dough  of  their  bread,  and  in  the  same  way 
another  loaf,  of  gourd  seeds,  which  they  presented  to  the  idol  Kan-u-Uay- 
eyah.  It  was  thus  that  they  guarded  this  statue  and  the  other  during  the 
unfavorable  days,  perfuming  them  with  their  incense  and  with  incense  mixed 
with  grains  of  bruised  maize.  They  believed  that  if  they  neglected  these 
ceremonies  they  would  be  subject  to  the  calamities  which  were  the  result  of 
this  year.  The  unlucky  days  having  passed,  they  carried  the  statue  of  the 
god  Bolon-Zacah  to  the  temple,  and  the  image  of  the  other  to  the  eastern 
entrance  of  the  city,  in  order  to  have  it  for  the  next  year.  They  left  it 
there,  and  returning  home  each  one  occupied  himself  with  preparations  for 
the  celebration  of  the  new  year. 

"As  soon  as  the  ceremonies  were  terminated  and  the  evil  spirit  dis- 
pelled, according  to  their  mistaken  idea,  they  believed  this  year  to  be  fortu- 
nate, because  with  the  sign  Kan  reigns  the  Bacab-Hobnil,  who,  as  they  say, 
has  not  sinned  as  his  brothers,  and  for  this  reason  no  calamity  befell  them 
in  that  year.  But  as  it  frequently  happened  that  this  occurred  notwithstand- 
ing, the  demon  was  conciliated  by  establishing  these  ceremonies,  so  that  in 
case  of  misfortune  they  attributed  the  fault  to  their  ceremonies  and  to  those 
who  served  in  them,  so  that  they  remained  always  in  error  and  blindness. 

"At  his  instigation,  then,  they  fabricated  an  idol  called  Yzamna-Cauil, 
which  they  placed  in  his  temple,  and  burnt  before  it  in  the  court  three  pellets 
of  milk,^  or  resin,  which  they  called  kih;  they  sacrificed  to  it  either  a  dog 
or  a  man,  which  was  done  with  the  ceremony  spoken  of  in  chapiter  one 
hundred  on  the  subject  of  victims.  There  was,  however,  some  difference 
in  the  manner  of  offering  this  sacrifice;  they  put  in  the  court  of  the  temjjle 
a  large  heap  of  stones,  and  the  man  or  animal  who  was  to  be  sacrificed  was 
fastened  to  a  sort  of  elevated  scaffold,  from  whence  they  hurled  him  onto 
the  heap  of  stones;  the  officers  immediately  seized  him  and  tore  out  his 
heart,  which  they  carried  to  the  new  idol,  offering  it  to  him  between  two 
plates.  They  made  still  other  offerings  of  comestibles.  At  this  feast  the 
old  women,  selected  for  this  occasion,  danced,  clothed  in  peculiar  garments. 
They  believed  that  an  angel  descended  then  and  received  the  sacrifice. 

'  By  the  term  "milk,"  as  here  used,  is  meant  the  milky  juice  of  some  plant. 


62  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

"XXXVI. — Sacrifices  of  the  new  year  at  the  sign  of  Muluc — Dancing  on  the 
stilts — Dance  of  the  old  women  with  the  dogs  of  baked  earth. 

"The  year  of  which  the  dominical  letter  was  Muluc  had  for  the  omen 
Candenal.  When  the  time  arrived,  the  nobles  and  the  priest  elected  the  chief 
who  sliould  celebrate  the  feast.  This  done,  they  modeled,  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding year,  the  image  of  the  idol  called  Chac-u-Uageyah,  and  carried  it  to 
the  heap  of  stones  at  the  eastern  side,  where  they  had  left  it  the  j^ear  before. 
They  made  a  statue  of  the  god  called  Kinch-Ahau,  which  they  placed  in  a 
suitable  spot  in  the  house  of  the  chief;  then,  from  there,  setting  out  by  a 
road  neatly  swept  and  ornamented,  they  returned  together  with  their  accus- 
tomed devotion  to  the  statue  of  Chac-u-Uayeyah. 

"Having  arrived  here,  the  priest  perfumed  it  with  his  incense  and  forty- 
three  grains  of  bruised  corn,  which  they  called  zacah;  he  gave  to  the  nobles 
the  incense  called  chahalte  to  put  in  the  censer,  after  which  they  cut  otf  the 
head  of  a  fowl,  as  formerly.  They  raised  up  the  statue  on  a  litter  called 
Chacte  and  carried  it  with  devotion,  while  the  crowd  executed  around  it  cer- 
tain war  dances  called  Holcan-Okof,  Batel-Okot.  They  carried  at  the  same 
time,  to  the  leaders  and  the  principal  citizens,  their  drink  composed  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty-four  grains  of  burnt  corn,  as  before. 

"Arrived  at  the  house  of  the  chief  they  placed  the  statue  facing  that 
of  Kinch-Ahau,  and  presented  to  it  the  customary  offerings,  which  they 
divided  afterwards  as  at  the  last  time.  They  offered  to  him  bread  made  in 
the  form  of  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  and  others  like  the  hearts  of  deer,  and  another 
composed  with  diluted  spice.  There  were,  as  ordinarily,  good  men  who  drew 
blood  from  themselves  by  piercing  their  ears  and  anointing  with  it  the  stone 
of  the  idol  named  Chacan-Cantun} 

"Here  they  took  small  boys  and  forcibly  pierced  their  ears,  making 
incisions  on  them  with  knives.  They  guarded  this  statue  until  the  end  of 
the  evil  days;  meanwhile  they  burned  before  it  their  incense. 

"When  these  days  were  passed  they  carried  it  to  the  north  side,  where 
they  were  to  receive  it  the  next  year,  and  deposited  the  other  in  his  temple, 
after  which  they  returned  home  to  prepare  for  the  ceremonies  of  the  new 
year  They  believed  that  if  they  neglected  to  celebrate  the  aforesaid  cere- 
monies they  would  be  exposed  to  great  evils  of  the  eyes. 

'Doubtless  inteuded  for  Chac-Acantun. 


THOMAS]    FESTIVALS  AT  THE  CQMMBlSrCEMENT  OF  THE  IX  TEARS.         63 

"This  year,  of  which  the  dominical  letter  was  Muliic  and  in  Avhich 
reigned  Bacah-Camienal,  they  regarded  as  fortunate;  for  they  said  that  this 
was  the  greatest  and  best  of  the  gods  Bacab;  also  they  made  him  the  first 
in  their  prayers.  With  all  this,  however,  the  demon  inspired  them  to  fabri- 
cate an  idol  named  Yax-Coc-Almmt,  which  they  placed  in  the  temple,  after 
having  taken  away  the  old  statuee;  they  set  up  in  the  court  which  is  towards 
the  temple  a  heap  of  stones,  on  which  they  burnt  the  incense  with  a  pellet 
of  I'esin  or  milk  (hlK),  invoking  the  idol  and  asking  of  him  deliverance  from 
the  misfortunes  of  the  present  year.  These  calamities  were  the  scarcity  of 
water,  the  abundance  of  shoots  in  the  maize,  and  other  things  of  the  same 
kind.  As  a  remedy  for  these  evils  the  demon  commanded  them  to  offer  up 
squirrels  and  a  cover  of  cloth  without  embroidery,  woven  by  the  old  women, 
wliose  office  it  was  to  dance  in  the  temple  in  order  to  praise  the  god  Yax- 
Coc-Almmt. 

"They  threatened  them  still  more  with  a  crowd  of  other  misfortunes 
and  evil  signs  relative  to  this  year,  although  it  was  considered  fortunate,  if 
they  did  not  accomplish  the  duties  Avhich  the  demon  imposed  on  them  ;  one 
among  others  was  a  feast  with  a  dance,  which  they  executed  mounted  on  very 
high  stilts,  and  a  sacrifice  which  they  off'ered  of  the  heads  of  turkeys,  of 
bread,  and  of  drinks  of  maize.  It  was  also  imposed  on  them  to  present 
images  of  dogs  in  baked  earth,  cari-ying  bread  on  the  back.  The  old  women 
were  obliged  to  dance  with  these  images  in  their  hands,  and  to  sacrifice  to 
the  god  a  small  dog  with  black  spots,  and  wiiich  was  still  virgin.  Those 
Avho  were  the  most  devoted  to  tin's  ceremony  were  to  draw  blood  from  the 
animal  and  to  anoint  Avith  it  the  stone  of  the  god  Chac-Acantum.  These 
rites  and  this  sacrifice  seemed  to  be  very  pleasing  to  the  god  Yax-Coc- 
Ahinut." 

"XXXVII. — Sacrifices  of  the  neiv  year  at  the  sign  of  Yx — Sinister  2)rognostics; 
how  they  prevented  those  results. 

"The  year  of  which  the  dominical  letter  was  Yx  and  the  omen  Zac- 
Ciui,  the  election  of  the  chief  who  celebrated  the  feast  being  finished,  they 
formed  the  image  of  the  god  called  Zac-n-Uayeyah  and  carried  it  to  the 
piles  of  stone  where  they  had  left  the  other,  the  year  before.     They  mod- 


64  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TROANO. 

eled  a  statue  of"  the  god  Yzamna  and  placed  it  in  the  house  of  the  chief, 
after  which,  by  a  road  ornamented  according  to  the  custom,  tliey  returned 
devoutly  to  the  image  of  Zac-u-Uayeyah.  On  tlieir  arrival,  they  perfumed 
it  witli  incense  as  they  had  done  before,  and  there  cut  off  the  head  of  a 
fowl.  The  image  having  been  afterwards  placed  on  a  litter  called  Zachia, 
they  carried  it  devoutly,  accompanying  it. with  dances  called  Alcahtan-Kam- 
Ahau.  They  carried  their  usual  drink  on  the  way,  and  arriving  at  the  house 
the  image  was  placed  in  order  before  that  of  Yzamna  and  they  made  their 
offerings,  to  divide  them  afterwards;  before  the  statue  of  Zac-u-Uayeyab 
they  presented  the  head  of  a  turkey,  patties  of  quails,  different  drinks,  etc. 

"As  formerly,  there  were  among  the  spectators  some  who  drew  blood 
from  themselves,  with  which  they  rubbed  the  stone  of  the  god  Zac-Acantun. 
In  this  manner  they  guarded  the  idols  during  the  days  preceding  the  new 
year,  and  incensed  them  according  to  their  custom  until  the  last  day;  then 
they  carried  Yzamna  to  the  temple  and  Zac-u-TJayeyah  to  the  west  of  the 
city,  leaving  it  there  until  the  following  year. 

"The  misfortunes  to  which  they  were  exposed  this  year,  if  they  hap- 
pened to  neglect  these  different  ceremonies,  were  fairitihg  fits!,' swoons,  and 
diseases  of  the  eye.  They  considered  it  as  a  year  unfortunate  as  to  bread, 
but  abundant  in  cotton.  It  was  this  which  they  signalized  with  the  char- 
acter Yx,  and  in  which  the  Bacab  Zac-Ciui  reigned,  who  foretold  nothing 
very  good;  according  to  their  belief,  the  year  must  bring  calamities  of  all 
sorts,  a  great  want  of  water,  days  when  the  sun  would  shine  with  excessive 
heat  which  would  dry  up  the  fields  of  maize;  the  consequence  would  be 
famine;  from  famine  arose  robberies  and  from  robberies  slavery  for  those 
who  rendered  themselves  guilty.  All  this  would  naturally  be  the  source  of 
discord  and  internal  wars  among  the  citizens  and  among  the  towns.  They 
believed  that  in  the  year  marked  by  this  sign  there  also  generally  happened 
changes  among  the  princes  or  the  priests,  in  consequence  of  the  wars  and 
dissensions. 

"Another  omen  which  they  also  held,  Avas  that  some  of  those  who 
sought  to  gain  authority  would  not  arrive  at  their  end.  This  year  was 
also  sometimes  signalized  by  an  irruption  of  locusts,  the  consequence  of 
which  would  be  famine  and  the  depopulation  of  a  large  number  of  locali- 


THOMAS)    FESTIVALS  AT  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  CAU AC  YEARS.    65 

ties.  In  order  to  remedy  these  calamities,  which  they  feared  entirely  or  in 
part,  they  made,  at  the  instigation  of  the  demon,  the  statue  of  an  idol  named 
Kinch-Ahau-Yzamna ;  they  placed  it  in  the  temple,  where  they  offered'to  it 
all  kinds  of  incense  and  oblations,  drawing  their  blood  and  sprinkling  with  it 
the  stone  of  the  god  Zac-Acantun.  They  executed  different  dances,  the  old 
women  dancing  as  usual;  at  this  feast  they  formed  anew  a  small  oratory 
to  the  demon;  they  assembled  there  to  offer  sacrifice  to  him  and  to  give 
him  presents,  and  finished  with  a  solemn  orgie,  where  every  one  became 
intoxicated,  for  this  feast  was  general  and  obligatory.  There  were  also  some 
fanatics  who,  of  their  own  accord,  and  through  devotion,  made  another  idol, 
like  that  which  is  mentioned  above,  which  they  carried  into  other  temples, 
making  it  offerings  and  intoxicating  themselves  in  its  honor.  They  regai-ded 
these  orgies  and  sacrifices  as  very  agreeable  to  their  idols  and  as  preserva- 
tives capable  of  preventing  the  misfortunes  with  which  they  believed  them- 
selves threatened." 

"XXXVIII. — Sacrifices  of  the  new  year  at  the  sign  of  Cauac — Uvil  prognos- 
tics prevented  by  the  fire  dance. 

"This  year,  of  which  the  dominical  letter  was  Cauac  and  the  omen 
Homnek,  after  they  had  elected  a  chief  of  the  ceremonies,  they  formed,  in 
order  to  celebrate  it,  the  image  of  the  god  Ek-ii-Uayeyah ;  they  carried  it  to 
the  piles  of  stone  at  the  west  entrance,  where  they  had  left  the  image  of 
the  year  before.  They  made  at  the  same  time  the  statue  of  the  god  called 
Uac-Mitun-AJiaii,  which  they  placed,  as  usual,  in  the  most  convenient  spot  in 
the  chief's  house.  From  there  they  went  together  to  the  place  where  they 
found  the  image  of  Eh-u-Uayeyah,  having  taken  care  previously  to  orna- 
ment the  road;  arriving  there,  the  nobles  and  priests  incensed  this  image, 
after  their  custom,  and  cut  off  the. head  of  a  fowl.  When  this  was  finished, 
they  took  the  statue  on  a  litter  called  Yaxek  and  placed  on  its  shoulders  a 
gourd  with  a  dead  man  and,  besides,  the  ashes  of  a  bird  which  they  called 
Kuch,  as  a  sign  of  great  mortality;  for  this  year  was  considered  very  unfor- 
tunate. 

"They  afterwards  carried  it  about  in  this  manner,  with  devotion  min- 
gled with  sadness,  executing  several  dances,  among  which  there  was  one 


60  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

like  the  crottees,  wliich  they  called  Xihalha-OKot,  avITh  h  signified  dance  of 
the  demons.  In  this  interval  the  cup-bearer  arrived  with  the  drink  for  the 
nobles,  which  they  drank  in  the  place  where  tho  statue  of  TJac-Mitun-Ahaa 
stood  vis-a-vis  with  the  image  of  which  they  had  the  care.  Immediately 
they  commenced  the  oblations,  the  perfuming,  and  their  prayers;  a  great 
number  drew  blood  from  difterent  parts  of  their  bodies  and  anointed  with 
it  the  stone  idol  called  Ekel-Acantun.  Thus  passed  the  unfortunate  days, 
after  which  they  carried  Uac-Mitun  Ahait  to  the  temple  and  Elc-u-Uayeyah 
to  the  south  entrance,  where  they  left  it  until  the  following  year. 

"This  year,  signalized  by  the  character  Cauac,  and  in  which  the  Bacah- 
Hozaneh  rules,  besides  the  plague  with  which  it  was  threatened,  was  par- 
ticularly regarded  as  fatal;  they  said  that  the  extreme  heat  of  the  sun 
destroyed  the  fields  of  maize,  without  considering  the  multiplication  of 
ants  and  birds  that  devoured  the  remainder  of  the  seed;  however,  they 
added,  these  calamities  need  not,  be  entirely  general,  there  were  some 
places  where  subsistence  could  be  obtained,  although  with  great  difficulty. 
To  prevent  these  calamities  they  made,  at  the  instigation  of  the  demon, 
four  idols,  named  CJiichac-Chob,  Ekhalam-CJtac,  Ahcan-Uolcah,  and  Alihiduc- 
Balam ;  after  having  placed  these  together  in  the  temple,  where  they  per- 
fumed them  as  usual,  they  presented  to  them  two  pellets  of  resin  named 
Ai/r,  to  be  burned,  also  iguanas,  bread,  and  a  miter,  with  a  bouquet  of  flowers 
and  a  stone  which  they  considered  of  great  value.  Besides,  they  raised,  for 
the  celebration  of  this  feast,  a  large  arch  of  wood  in  the  court,  filling-  it  with 
wood  above  and  on  the  sides  in  order  to  burn,  leaving  in  it,  however, 
gateways  for  entering  in  and  going  out.  Then,  the  greater  part  of  the 
men  took  each  one  a  bundle  of  long  dry  sticks  and,  wdiile  a  nuisician 
mounted  on  the  top  of  the  funeral  pile  sang-  and  beat  the  tambour,  all 
danced  with  much  order  and  devotion,  entering  in  and  going  out,  one  after 
the  other,  under  the  arch  They  continued  to  dance  in  this  manner  until 
evening,  when,  leaving  their  bundles  of  sticks,  they  went  home  to  rest  and 
refresh  themselves. 

"When  nig^.  fell  they  returned,  accompanied  by  a  great  crowd;  for 
this  ceremony  was  regarded  with  great  respect  among  them.  Each  one 
taking  then  his  bundle,  hghted  it  and  put  the  fire  on  the  funeral  jDile,  which 


f.T 


U  S  G. AND   G    SURVEY 


MANUSCRIPT    TROANO    PI  J. 


T^BWBS'SP*' 


^^-^ 


FAC-SIMILE  OF  PLATE    XX    OF  THE   CODEX   TROANO 


THOMAS]  EXPLANATION  OF  FIOITRES  IN  TOE  PLATES.  67 

immediatel}-  caught  fire  and  burned  rapidl3^  As  soon  as  there  Avas  only 
one  brand  left  burning  they  announced  it  to  the  throng,  and  those  who  had 
danced  before  nssend)led  together  and  attempted  to  cross  it,  some  passing 
over  without  injury  and  some  being  slightly  or  seriously  burned,  imagining 
that  thus  they  prevented  the  plague  and  the  anger  of  the  gods,  and  to 
avert  the  evil  omens  of  the  year,  in  the  belief  that  nothing  could  be  more 
conciliating  to  their  gods  than  this  kind  of  sacrifice. 

"This  finished,  they  returned  home  to  drink  and  intoxicate  themselves; 
for  this  was  required  by  the  custom  of  the  feast  and  the  heat  of  the  fire." 

If  we  turn  now  to  Plates  25,  26,  27,  and  28  of  the  Dresden  Codex  and 
study  them  carefully,  I  think  we  shall  find  enough  there  to  warrant  iis  in 
deciding  that  they  are  intended  to  represent  these  four  festivals. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  apparent  that  these  four  plates,  which  are  copied 
on  our  Plates  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII,  all  relate  to  the  same  subject,  and  that  they 
are  quite  different  from  those  which  precede  or  follow  them. 

In  the  second  place,  the  left-hand  day-column  of  each  plate  contains 
but  two  days,  and  in  each  case  these  are  the  last  two  of  the  intercalated 
days;  those  on  Plate  25  (PI.  V)  being  Eb  and  Ben,  the  last  two  days  of  the 
Mukic  years;  on  Plate  26  (PI.  VI),  Caban  and  Ezanab,  the  last  two  of  the 
Ix  years;  on  Plate  27  (PI.  VII),  Ik  and  Akbal,  the  last  two  of  the  Cauac 
years;  and  those  on  Plate  28  (PI.  VIII),  Manik  and  Lamat,  the  last  two  of 
the  Kan  years.  A  fact  worthy  of  note  in  this  connection  is  that  each  of 
these  days  is  repeated  thirteen  times,  the  exact  number  of  each  of  these 
years  in  a  cycle. 

In  the  third  place,  we  see  in  the  lowest  compartment  of  each  plate 
the  priest  holding  in  his  hand  a  headless  fowl;  agreeing  exactly  with 
Landa's  words,  "■degollavan  una  gallina  y  se  la  presentavan  o  offrecian" ;  "they 
beheaded  a  fowl  and  presented  it  as  an  offering." 

In  the  upper  division  of  each  we  see  the  chosen  assistant  with  the 
head  and  tail  of  the  Chac,  bearing  on  his  back  the  newly-formed  image  on 
his  march  to  the  heap  of  stones  at  the  border  of  the  village,  or  to  the  house 
of  the  selected  chief. 

In  the  middle  division  we  see  the  priest  burning  incense,  in  order,  as 
was  their  custom,  to  drive  away  the  evil  spirit;  the  sign  or  glyph-  "  Ik"  in 


G8  A  STUDY  OF  TEE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

the  midst  of  the  flame  renders  almost  certain  the  correctness  of  this  inter- 
pretation. 

This  agreement  in  so  many  particulars  between  these  plates  and  Landa's 
statements  is  certainly  sufficient  to  warrant  us  in  assuming-  that  the  two  refer 
to  the  same  things;  that  is,  to  the  festivals  held  during  the  TJaycjjah  haab  or 
closing  days  of  the  different  years. 

Before  attempting  to  show  the  relation  these  plates  of  the  Dresden 
Codex  bear  to  those  of  the  Manuscript  Troano,  it  will  be  necessary  for  me 
to  ask  the  reader  to  examine  them  carefully  as  I  enter  into  more  particular 
details. 

It  is  apparent  from  Landa's  language  that  the  festival  of  the  last  days 
of  one  year  was  intended  as  a  celebration  of  the  new  or  incoming  year; 
that  is  to  say,  the  festival  of  the  last  days  of  the  Kan  year  was  intended  as 
a  celebration  of  the  incoming  Muluc  year,  and,  in  fact,  did  not  close  until 
the  first  or  second  day  of  the  latter.  This  being  the  case,  we  presume  that 
the  plate  containing  the  last  two  days  of  the  Kan  year,  for  example,  repre- 
sents the  commencement  of  the  Muluc.year,  and  that  some,  at  least,  of  the 
figures  and  characters  shown  on  it  refer  to  that  year.  Following  up  this 
idea,  I  conclude  that  Plate  25,  on  which  the  days  are  Eb  and  Ben,  the  last 
days  of  the  Muluc  year,  refers  to  the  commencement  of,  and  may  properly 
be  called  the  plate  of  the  Ix  years;  that  Plate  2G  refers  to  the  beginning  of 
the  Cauac  years,  Plate  27  to  the  Kan  years,  and  Plate  28  to  the  Muluc 
years. 

Taking  for  granted  that  this  conclusion  is  correct — which  I  think  few 
if  any  will  doubt — let  us  see  what  further  can  be  deduced  from  it. 

Landa,  Cogulludo,  and  Perez  tell  us  that  each  of  the  four  dominical 
days  Avas  referred  by  the  Indians  to  one  of  the  four  cardinal  points.  As  the 
statements  of  these  three  authorities  appear  at  first  sight  to  conflict  with 
each  other,  let  us  see  if  we  can  bring  them  into  harmony  without  resorting 
to  a  violent  construction  of  the  language  used.  Perez's  statement  is  clear 
and  distinct,  and  as  it  was  made  by  one  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  natives,  and  also  with  all  the  older  authorities, 
it  is  doubtless  correct. 

He  says,  "the  Indians  made  a  little  wheel  in  which  they  placed  the  initial 


T..OMAS.]         ASSIGNMENT  OF  YEARS  TO  THE  CAEDINAL  POINTS.  69 

days  of  the  year.  Kan  at  the  east,  Muluc  at  the  north,  Gix  or  Hix  at  the 
west,  and  Cauac  at  the  south,  to  be  counted  in  the  same  order."^ 

The  statement  of  CoguUudo,  which  agrees  substantially  with  this,  is  as 
follows:  "  They  fixed  the  first  year  at  the  east,  to  which  they  gave  the  name 
Cuch-haah;  the  second  at  the  west,  and  called  it  Hiix;  the  third  at  iha  south, 
named  Cauac,  and  the  fourth,  Muluc,  at  the  north." 

Turning  now  to  Landa's  work  (Relac.  des  Cosas,  §§  XXXIV),  we  are 
somewhat  surprised  to  find  the  following  language:  "The  first  of  these 
dominical  letters  is  Kan.  The  year  having  this  character  was  the  first,  and 
had  for  its  sign  the  Bacab,  the  other  names  of  which  were  Hobml,  Kanal- 
Bacah,  Kan-pauah-tun,  Kan-xib-chac.  They  placed  this  on  the  south  side. 
The  second  letter  is  Muluc,  which  is  placed  on  the  eastern  side,  and  this  year 
has  for  its  sign  the  Bacah,  which  is  called  Canzienal,  Chacal-Bacah,  Chac- 
pauah-tun,  Chac-xib-chac.  The  third  of  these  letters  is  Yx.  The  sign  during 
this  year  was  the  Bacab  named  Zac-zini,  Zacal-Bacab,  Zac-pauah-tun,  Zac-xib- 
chac,  and  it  signified  the  northern  side.  The  fourth  letter  is  Cauac;  the  sign 
of  this  year  is  the  Bacab  called  Hozan-ek,  Ekel-Bacab,  Ek-pauah-tun,  Ek- 
xib-chac,  which  is  assigned  to  the  western  side."^ 

This,  as  we  see,  places  Kan  at  the  south,  Muluc  at  the  east,  Ix  at  the 
north,  and  Cauac  at  the  west,  confiicting  directly  with  the  statements  made 
by  Cogulludo  and  Perez.  If  we  turn  now  to  the  descriptions  of  the  four 
feasts  as  given  by  Landa,  and  heretofore  quoted,  I  think  we  shall  find  an 
explanation  of  this  difference.  From  his  account  of  the  feast  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Kan  year  (the  intercalated  days  of  the  Cauac  year),  we 
learn  that  first  they  made  an  idol  called  Kan-u-uayeyab,  which  they  bore  to 
the  heap  of  stones  on  the  south  side  of  the  village;  next  they  made  a  statue 
of  the  god  Bolon-Zacab,  which  they  placed  in  the  house  of  the  elected  chief, 

■  "Estos  indios  pintavau  una  rueda  pequeua,  eu  la  ciial  ponian  los  cuatro  geroglilicos  de  Jos  dias 
cou  que  principiava  el  ano,  Kan  al  orieute,  ilitluc  al  iiorte,  Hix  al  ponieute,  y  Cauac  al  sur,  para  que  se 
coutasen  en  el  mismo  ordeu."    (Crouologia  Antigua,  ^  VII.) 

-  "La  priiliera  pues  do  las  letras  dominicales  es  Kan.  El  ano  que  csta  letra  servia  era  el  aguero 
del  Bacab  que  por  otros  uoinljres  llaman  Hohiiil,  Kanal  Bacab,  Kan-pauah-tun,  Kan-xib-chac.  A  este  sena- 
lavau  a  la  parte  de  medio  dia.  La  seguuda  letra  es  Muluc  .senalavanle  al  oriente,  su  afio  era  aguero  el 
Bacab  que  llamau  Canzienal,  Chacal  Bacah,  Chac-pauah-tun,  Chac-xib-chac.  La  fcrcera  letra  es  Yx.  Su  ano 
era  aguero  el  Bacai  que  llaman  Zacziiii-zacal-Bacah,  Zac-pauahtun,  Zac-xibchac,  senalavanle  a  la  parte  del 
uorte.  La  quatra  letra  us  Cauac;  su  ano  era  aguero  el  Bacab  que  llamau  Ho:aneh;  Ekel-Bacab,  Ek-pauah- 
tun,  Ek-xib-chac ;  a  este  senalavan  a  la  parte  del  ponlente." 


70 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


or  chief  chosen  for  the  occasion.  This  done,  they  returned  to  the  idol  on 
the  southern  stone  heap,  where  certain  religious  ceremonies  were  performed, 
after  which  they  returned  with  the  idol  to  the  house,  where  they  placed  it 
vis-a-vis  with  the  other — -just  as  we  see  in  the  lower  division  of  Plates  XX- 
XXIII  of  the  Manuscript  Troano.  Here  they  kept  constant  vigil  until  the 
unluck}^  days  ( Uayeb-liaah)  had  expired  and  the  new  Kan  year  appeared ; 
then  they  took  the  statue  of  Bolon-Zacab  to  the  temple  and  the  other  idol 
fo  the  heap  of  stones  at  the  east  side  of  the  village,  where  it  was  to  remain 
during  the-  year,  doubtless  intended  as  a  constant  reminder  to  the  common 
people  of  what  year  was  passing. 

Similar  transfers  were  made  at  the  commencement  of  the  other  years; 
at  that  of  Muluc,  first  to  the  east,  then  to  the  liouse,  and  then  to  its  final 
resting  place  on  the  north  side;  of  Ix,  first  to  the  north,  then  to  the  west;^ 
of  Cauac,  first  to  the  west,  then  to  the  south. 

This  movement  agrees  precisely  with  the  order  given  by  Perez;  and 
the  final  resting  places  of  the  idols  for  the  year  being  the  cardinal  points  of 
the  dominical  days  where  he  fixes  them;  that  is,  Kan  at  the  east;  Muluc  at 
the  north;  Ix  at  the  west,  and  Cauac  at  the  south. 

There  is  therefore  no  real  disagreement  between  the  authorities  on  this 
point. 

If  we  turn  now  to  Plate  VI  of  the  Manuscript  Troano  we  find  these 
four  characters  in  the  spaces  of  the  upper  and  middle  divisions.     No.  3 


No.  3.  No.  4. 

^  . '        /  Fig.  8.  1  I         ^ 

is  in  the  upper  left-hand  corner;  No.  2  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner;  No. 
1  in  the  lower  right-hand  corner,  and  No.  4  in  the  upper  right-hand  cor- 
ner. We  find  the  same  characters  placed  in  the  same  order  in  the  upper 
and  middle  divisions  of  Plate  VII  and  the  upper  division  of  Plate  VII*. 
They  are  also  found  in  the  corners  of  the  spaces  of  Plates  XVIII*,  XXVI, 
XXIX*,  XXX*,  XXXI*,  and  XXXII*,  but  not  always  in  the  same  order. 


'  Brasscur  makes  a  mistake  iu  his  translation,  giving  cast  instead  of  west. 


MANUSCRIPT    TROANO    PL   II, 


FAC-SIMILE  OF  PLATE    XXI    OF  THE   CODEX    TROANO 


TiioMAs.j  •       CHAEACTEKS  FOE  THE  CAEDINAL  POINTS.  .         7 1 

Turning  to  the  "title  page"  of  the  same  manuscript,  we  find  that  these  are 
the  first  four  characters  in  the  second  transverse  line. 

The  position  of  the  characters  on  the  plates  mentioned  led  me,  at  an 
early  stage  of  ni}-  investigations,  to  believe  they  were  intended  to  denote  the 
four  cardinal  points;  but  the  fact  that  the  order  was  not  always  the  same, 
and  the  apparent  impossibility  of  finding  words  in  the  Maya  lexicon  agree- 
ing with  Landa's  letter  characters  and  at  the  same  time  denoting  the  cardi- 
nal points,  induced  me  for  a  time  to  doubt  the  correctgess  of  this  theory; 
but  the  discovery  of  the  signification  of  these  four  plates  of  the  Dresden 
Codex  induces  me  now  to  believe  that  this  first  impression  was  correct.  It  is 
possible  these  characters  have  also  some  other  signification,  but  that  they 
are  intended  to  designate  the  cardinal  points  I  can  no  longer  doubt. 

In  the  last  or  lowest  transverse  line  of  characters  on  Plate  27  of  the 
Di'esden  Codex  (our  Plate  VII) — the  one  relating  to  the  close  of  the  Cauac 
and  commencement  of  the  Kan  years — we  find  the  character  No.  1  (Fig.  8) 
in  close  proximity  with  another  character,  which  I  will  presently  show  signi- 
fies "stone"  or  a  "heap  of  stones."  If  this  indicates  a  cardinal  point  it  must 
be  south  or  east;  if  it  refers  to  the  place  to  which  the  idol  was  first  taken  it 
would  then  signif)'  south,  if  to  its  last  resting  place  it  would  then  signify 
east.  In  the  corresponding  line  of  Plate  28  (our  Plate  VIII)  we  find  char- 
acter No.  2;  in  that  of  25  (our  Pkte  V),  character  No.  3;  in  that  of  26  (our 
Plate  VI),  character  No.  4.  If  we  suppose  these  characters  to  indicate  the 
final  resting  places  of  the  idols  then  character  No.  1  would  signify  east,  2 
north,  3  west,  and  4  south;  but  if  the  first  resting  place,  then  chairacter  No. 
1  v/ovild  signify  south.  No.  2  east.  No.  3  north,  and  No.  4  west.  That  Nos. 
1  and  3  relate  to  the  places  of  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,  I  think  is 
evident  from  the  following  facts: 

First.  That  these  are  the  only  two  out  of  the  four  characters  which 
have  anything  similar  in  them. 

Second.  The  lower  half  of  each  is  precisely  like  the  lower  half  of 
Landa's  symbol  for  the  month  Yaxkin,  from  which  we  may  infer  that  it 
signifies  Am,  "sun."  This  also  agrees  with  the  fact  that  the  Maya  words 
for  east  and  west  (likin,  chikin)  both  end  with  "kin,"  which  signifies  sun 
or  day.     Although  Landa  gives  this  figure  without  the  wing  as  the  character 


72  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

for  the  letter  "T,"  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  when  combined  with 
the  side  wing  it  signifies  "sun"  or  "day,"  both  words  being  the  same  in  the 
Maya  language.  I  find  that  Brasseur  and  Dr.  Valentin!'  reached  the  same 
conclusion  respecting  this  character,  which  bears  some  resemblance  to  the 


Mexican  symbol  for  day|  ^i^  J,  and  a  still  closer  resemblance  to  that  for 
year.    |     *^      I    I,am  satisfied,  therefore,  that  these  two  characters  refer  to 

the  east  and  the  west,  and  hence  that  the  only  point  left  for  us  to  decide  is, 
which  appertains  to  the  east  and  which  to  the  west.  This  I  think  may  be 
determined  from  the  plates  of  the  Dresden  Codex.  If  No.  1  on  Plate  27 
must  there  be  either  south  or  east,  and  our  reasoning  showing  that  it  could 
not  be  either  south  or  north  be  correct,  it  follows  that  it  must  signify  east, 
the  direction  assigned  to  the  Kan  year,  and  that  here  it  refers  to  the  final 
resting  place  of  the  idol  Kan-u-Uayeyab. 

If  I  am  so  far  correct  then  character  No.  1  (Fig.  8)  signifies  east,  No. 
2  north,  No.  3  west,  and  No.  4  south. 

If  we  turn  now  to  Plates  46,  47,  48,  49,  and  50  of  this  Codex  we  find 
on  each,  two  square  groups  or  masses  of  characters  consisting  of  either  five 
or  six  transverse  lines  and  four  columns.  One  transverse  line  of  each  group 
is  composed  of  these  four  characters,  which,  as  I  believe,  are  here  used  to 
indicate  the  cardinal  points.  Assuming  my  interjiretation  of  them  to  be 
correct,  it  will  be  necessary  to  read  these  lines  from  right  to  left  to  obtain 
the  order  given  by  Perez;  for  example  the  lines  on  these  plates  read,  as 
the  characters  stand,  thus: 

First  group,  Plate  46. — North,  east,  south,  west. 

Second  group,  Plate  46. — West,  north,  east,  south. 

First  group,  Plate  47. — North,  east,  south,  west. 

Second  group,  Plate  47. — West,  north,  east,  south. 

First  group,  Plate  48. — North,  east,  south,  west. 

Second  group,  Plate  48. — West,  north,  east,  south. 

And  the  same  on  Plates  49  and  50.  Reading  these  from  the  right  to 
the  left  we  have  the  order  given  by  Perez,  but  the  initial  days  will  be  as 


THOMAS]  ASSIGNMENT  OF  DAYS  TO  THE  CARDINAL  POINTS.  73 

follows:  for  the  groups  marked  "first,"  Ix,  and  for  those  marked  "second," 
Gauac,  and  the  order  in  which  they  succeed  each  other,  as  follows: 

1st.  Ix,  Cauac,  Kan,  Muluc. 

2d.  Cauac,  Kan,  Muluc,  Ix. 

The  first  agrees  exactly  with  the  order  of  the  days  referred  to  by 
Plates  25-28  of  this  Codex,  and  the  second  precisely  with  Plates  XX- 
XXIII  of  the  Manuscript  taken  in  revierse  order  to  the  paging.  The  first 
also  agrees  exactly  with  the  order  in  which  the  first  four  characters  in  the 
second  line  of  the  title  page  of  the  Manuscript  come,  if  read  from  left  to 
right  as  the  numbers  above  them  indicate.  If  we  turn  to  Plate  XXXIP  of 
the  last-mentioned  Manuscript^  we  will  see  that  the  left-hand  column  of  the 
upper  division  consists  of  the  four  dominical  days  placed  in  the  following 
order,  reading  from  the  top  downward:  Ix,  Cauac,  Kan,  Muluc,  precisely  in 
the  order  of  the  four  plates  of  the  Dresden  Codex;  we  also  find  in  the  space 
of  this  division  the  characters  which  I  have  supposed  mark  the  cardinal 
points,  but  placed  as  shown  here. 


Landa,  speaking  of  the  ceremonies  connected  with  the  making  of  idols 
of  wood,  remarks  (p.  308)  that  "they  offered  incense  to  the  four  gods 
called  Acantunes,  which  they  had  placed  at  the  four  parts  of  the  world"  (the 
four  cardinal  points).  But  these  were  of  stone,  as  we  have  already  learned 
from  the  extracts  referring  to  the  festivals  of  the  supplemental  days. 

In  the  lowest  division  of  Plate  XXV*  there  are  four  idols  over  which 
are  these  four  characters;  the  first,  or  left-hand  one,  is  the  headless  figure 
seen  on  Plate  XXIII,  the  character  over  it  that  which  denotes  the  west; 
the  second  the  spotted  dog  seen  on  Plates  XX  and  XXI,  the  character  over 
it  signifies  the  north;  the  third  a  monkey,  possibly  the  same  as  seen  in  the 
lower  division  of  Plate  XXI,  the  character  over  it  the  east;  the  fourth  a 
bird,  the  character  over  it  the  south. 

'Roman  numerals  refer  to  the  plates  of  the  Manuscript;  Arabics  to  those  of  the  Codes. 


74  A  STUDY  OP  THE  MAXUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

Tliere  are  other  plates  on  which  these  characters  appear  to  indicate 
the  cardinal  points,  but  what  'has  been  given  is  sufficient  to  show  the  evi- 
dence upon  which  I  base  my  opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  characters. 
The  presence  of  these  on  Plates  25-28  of  the  Codex,  in  the  manner  there 
given,  is  perhaps  the  surest  guide  as  to  the  quai'ters  to  which  they  respect- 
ively belong;  the  fact  they  are  so  often  found  occupying  the  four  corners 
of  the  spaces  of  the  plates  of  tlije  Manuscript  is  what  leads  us  to  suspect 
that  they  indicate  the  cardinal  points.  The  chief,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
the  oidy  objection  to  this  interpretation  is  the  occasional  change  of  order 
in  the  spaces;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  this  seldom,  if  ever,  occurs  where  they 
are  in  a  line.     The  chief  doubt  is  as  to  the  points  assigned  them. 

If  my  explanation  is  correct,  then  it  is  possible  that  the  Maya  words 
which  they  represent  are  as  follows  : 

No.  1  (Fig.  8),  LiJdn,  "east."     No.  2,  Xaman,  "north." 

No.  3,  CJiikiu,  "west."  No.  4,  Ma-yam,  "the  middle  of  the  earth" 
(south),  or  NoJiol,  "south." 

The  inverted  character  for  Ahau  in  No.  3,  and  tliat  for  Manik  in  No.  1, 
may  raise  an  objection  in  the  minds  of  some  to  this  interpretation,  but  the 
reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  I  do  not  yet  insist  that  these  characters  are 
the  symbols  for  the  words  above  given.  They  may  refer  to  priests,  uten- 
sils, or  other  things  connected  with  or  used  during  religions  ceremonies; 
for  example,  No.  3  may  be  the  s)'mbol  for  Ahldn,  "priest,"  No.  4,  for  Mayac, 
"table";  No.  2  for  Am,  the, sacred  stone  used  in  casting  the  horoscope,  &c., 
but  at  the  same  time  these,  by  the  relative  positions  thej'  occupy  during 
ceremonies,  may  serve  to  indicate  the  cardinal  points,  and  hence  the  days. 
This  being  the  case,  the  characters,  by  long  usage  for  this  purpose,  would 
ultimately  become  tlie  symbols  of  this  secondary  signification. 

Referring  again  to  Landa's  account  of  the  festivals,  here- 
tofore quoted,  we    observe   that  one  of  the   idols  was   finally 
placed  on  the  heap  of  stones  at  the  margin  of  the  village      In 
the  lowest  division   of  each  of  the   plates — 25-28  of  the  Co- 
'*^'  '■       dex — we  see  an  idol  resting  on  a  character  like  this  (Fig.  9); 
the  idol  on  Plate  25,  with  a  head  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the  Tlaloc 


U-S  G.  AND  G  SURVEY 


MANUSCRIPT  TROANO  PL  III. 


OVv\. 


FAC-SIMILE  OF  PLATE    XXII    OF  THE   CODEX   TROANO 


THOMAS]  EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  75 

figures  in  the  Manuscript;  those  on  Plates  26,  27,  and  28  apparently 
part  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree  clothed,  and  around  which  a  serpent  is  coiled. 
From  this  fact  I  infer  that  the  character  signifies  a  "stone"  or  "stone-heap." 
The  same  character  is  also  found  uuder  the  figures  placed  opposite  each 
other  in  the  lower  divisions  of  Plates  XX-XXIII  of  the  Manuscript,  the 
only  exception  being  that  under  the  left  figure  in  the  lower  division  of 
Plate  XXII.  I  had,  from  a  study  of  the  character  itself,  come  to  the  con- 
clusion, previous  to  the  discovery  of  the  signification  of  the  four  plates  of 
the  Codex,  that  it  was  the  symbol  for  stone,  especially  for  the  stone  used 
in  marking  the  divisions  between  periods  of  time.  I  was  led  to  this  con- 
clusion by  a  careful  comparison  of  Landa's  symbol  for  the  month  Pax  with 
other  similar  characters  in  the  Manuscript.  If  I  am  correct  in  this  opinion, 
then  the  character  probably  represents  one  of  the  two  Maya  words  Pb,  sig- 
nifying "a  stone  serving  to  form  the  divisions  in  a  Katun  or  cycle,"  ov  Ppk, 
"stones  placed  one  upon  another,  serving  to  count  the  intervals  in  the 
cycles."  We  find  this  character,  as  before  remarked,  in  the  lower  trans- 
verse lines  of  the  plates  of  the  Codex,  in  close  proximity  to  the  symbols  of 
the  cardinal  points,  which  agrees  ^•ery  well  with  Landa's  statement. 

In  the  third  or  lowest  division  of  Plate  27  we  see  the  figure  of  a  fish 
on  two  Kans,  which  are  in  a  vessel.  This  probably  represents  the  "angel" 
placed  on  the  "palo"  or  litter  "as  a  sign  of  water;"  though  it  is  possible  it 
simply  denotes  one  of  the  offerings  made  to  the  idol  before  which  it  is 
placed.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  a  similar  figure  is  found  in  the  second 
character  of  the  fifth  line  of  the  title-page  of  the  Manuscript ;  but,  in  this 
case,  it  is  in  the  column  which  has  the  symbol  for  "south"  as  its  second 
character.  As  Plate  27  of  the  Codex  relates  to  the  close  of  a  Cauac  year, 
as  well  as  to  the  commencement  of  a  Kan  j'ear,  .the  presence  of  this  figure 
in  these  places  agrees  very  well  with  the  interpretation  above  given. 

Although  we  have  by  no  means  exhausted  our  explanation  of  the  four 
plates  of  the  Codex,  we  are  now  prepared  to  compare  them  with  the  four 
of  the  Manuscript,  and  will  proceed  to  make  the  comparison,  reserving 
what  further  interpretations  we  have  to  give  of  ^hem  to  a  subsequent  part 
of  our  paper. 

There  are  four  plates  in  each,  relating  to  the  four  dominical  days  or 


76  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

year  bearers,  and  the  clays  used  to  designate  the  years  are  repeated  thirteen 
times  on  each  plate;  in  the  Codex,  the  last  two  days  of  the  year  are  selected 
for  this  purpose ;  in  the  Manuscript  the  first  only,  but  even  here  we  see  the 
symbols  of  the  terminal  days  in  the  transverse  line  between  the  two  spaces. 

The  idols  in  each  are  placed  on  the  same  character — that  which  I  have 
interpreted  as  signifying  the  "stone"  or  "stone  heap"  used  to  mark  the 
divisions  of  time.  The  serpent  appears  in  three  plates  of  each  work,  and  is 
wanting  in  the  fourth,  the  latter  in  both  cases  being  that  which  relates  chiefly 
to  the  Ix  years.  At  the  bottom  of  the  lower  division  of  Plate  28  (Codex) 
we  see  a  figure  resembling  the  leg  of  a  deer  bound  by  a  double  cord ;  a 
similar  figure  appears  at  the  upper  left-hand  corner  of  the  lower  division  of 
Plate  XX  (Manuscript),  our  Plate  I.  I  think  it  is  evident  t^iat  Brasseur 
was  right  in  interpreting  this  as  the  symbol  of  the  Maya  word  Jiau,  "the 
quarter  of  a  deer  or  other  animal,''  from  Landa's  statement  in  his  account  of 
the  festival  of  the  Kan  year — ^^davan  al  sacerdote  una  pierna  de  venado," 
"they  gave  the  priest  a  leg  of  venison." 

It  is  true  that  this  figure  is  found,  in  the  Codex,  in  the  plate  supposed 
to  relate  to  the  Muluc  year,  while  in  the  Manuscript  it  is  in  that  which 
applies  to  the  Ix  year,  and  that  in  Landa  it  is  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  ceremonies  of '  the  Kan  year ;  but  this  is  not  sufiicient  to  destroy  the 
value  of  these  coincidences  in  our  eff"ort  to  interpret  these  plates.  For,  in 
the  first  place,  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  the  Codex  relates  to  the 
same  time  and  place  as  the  Manuscript ;  in  the  second  place,  each  of  the 
plates  in  both  works  appears  to  refer,  in  part,  to  two  years ;  in  the  third 
place,  Landa's  description  is  not  sufficiently  exact  and  minute  to  make  the 
comparison  full  and  complete.  I  may  also  add  that,  while  the  plates  of  the 
Codex  appear  to  relate  only  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  supplemental  days,  those 
of  the  Manuscript  apparently  refer  to  other  festivals,  especially  those  held  at 
the  close  and  commencement  of  long  periods  of  time.  For  example,  what 
is  symbolized  by  the  two  left-hand  figures  of  the  upper  division  of  Plate 
XXII  of  the  Manuscript  appears  to  be  represented  in  Plate  30  of  the  Codex. 

The  Uayeyab  idols  of  the  two  works  are  certainly  diff"erent  from  each 
other,  though  I  think  it  very  doubtful  whether  the  figures  in  either  are  true 
representatives  of  the  images;  possibly  those  on  the  Codex  plates  are. 


T..OMAR]    EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  THE  FOUE  PLATES.      77 

A  careful  comparison  of  the  chief  figure  in  the  lowest  division  of  Plate 
27  of  the  Codex  with  the  left-hand  figure  in  the  lower  division  of  Plate 
XXIII  of  the  Manuscript  convinces  me  that  the  two  are  intended  as  sym- 
bols of  the  same  idea  or  as  representatives  of  the  same  person.  That  the 
former  is  essentially  difi'erent  from  the  corresponding  figures  on  Plates  25, 
26,  and  28  is  apparent  to  any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  compare 
them.  The  cape  is  here  in  front  instead  of  on  the  back.  The  anklets  and 
bracelets — which  appear  to  be  used  as  tokens  of  caste — are  different  from 
the  others.  There  is  also  a  wide  variation  in  the  head-dress,  which,  together 
with  the  exposed  bone  of  the  lower  jaw,  the  docked  nose,  and  lines  of  dots 
on  the  limbs,  indicate  that  this  priest  is  here  representing  Death  or  the  god 
of  Death.  A  cursory  examination  of  other  jilates  of  both  works  where  the 
same  figures  will  be  found  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  one  of  the  correctness 
of  this  opinion.  I  refer  the  reader  who  may  have  the  works  at  hand  to 
Plates  XXX,  XXXIV,  III*,  XXII*,  XXX*,  XXXIP  of  the  Manuscript,  and 
also  Plates  6,  11,  12,  18,  4r),  and  53  of  the  Codex. 

A  somewhat  similar  figure  is  borne  on  the  back  of  the  Chac  in  the 
upper  division  of  Plate  28  of  the  Codex,  on  which  we  see  the  same  brace- 
lets, head-dress,  exposed  jaw-bone,  and  lines  of  dots.  Landa  states,  as  will 
be  seen  by  reference  to  his  account  of  the  festivals  of  the  intercalated  days 
heretofore  given,  that  at  the  commencement  of  the  Cauac  year  they  carried, 
among  other  things,  a  "dead  man."  According  to  the  interpretation  given, 
Plate  27  refers  to  the  close  of  the  Cauac  and  commencement  of  the  Kan 
year,  and  28  to  the  close  of  the  Kan  and  commencement  of  the  Muluc 
year,  which  would  place  this  ceremony  in  the  year  following  that  given  by 
Landa. 

Referring  now  to  Plate  XXIII  of  the  Manuscript,  which  relates  in  part 
at  least  to  the  Cauac  years,  we  see  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner  of  the  lower 
division  a  white  figure  with  the  same  anklets  and  bracelets;  and,  although 
portly  and  apparently  clothed  with  flesh,  the  ribs  denoting  death  are  plainly 
marked.  A  hand  is  stretched  out  as  if  to  catch  the  skull,  which  is  dropping 
from  the  head-dress  that  arises  out  of  the  earthen  vessel. 

I  note  the  following  additional  items  in  whicli  they  correspond;  in  the 


78  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROAXO. 

canopies,  oi*  whatsoever  they  may  be,  behind  the  sitting  priests  in  tlie  mid- 
dle divisions  of  the  lour  plates  of  the  Cotlex  we  observe  this  figure 

a  St.  Andrew's  cross,  surrounded  by  the  usual  circle — those  on  Plates  "2(5 
and  28  with  the  cross  white  on  a  black  ground.  Precisely  the  same  figures 
are  found  on  three  of  the  plates  of  the  Manuscript,  those  on  XX  and  XXIII 
with  black  ground  and  white  cross. 

In  the  lowest  transverse  line  of  characters  of  each  of  the  four  j^lates 
of  the  Codex,  we  find,  as  heretofore  remarked,  a  symbol  of  one  of  the 
cardinal  points.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  plates  of  the  Manuscript,  as 
Avill  be  seen  by  examining  the  lowest  transverse  line  above  the  upper  space. 

The  head  of  the  Ara  is  seen  on  Plate  28  of  the  Codex  in  the  same 
space  (lowest  division)  as  the  bound  "leg  of  venison."  The  two  are  in  the 
Manuscript  (Plate  XX,  lower  division),  but  here  the  whole  bird  is  figured. 

In  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XX  we  notice  issuing  from  the  mouth 
of  the  dog  two  lines  of  dots  each  terminating  in  a  little  circle  or  circular 
dot.  In  the  lower  division  of  Plate  26  of  the  Codex  we  see  two  similar 
dotted  lines  arising  from  the  severed  neck  of  the  bird.  In  both  works  these 
peculiar  lines  are  on  the  Ix  plates  only. 

Such  are  the  chief  resemblances  between  the  plates  of  the  two  works. 
Some,  it  is  true,  are  those  of  common  occurrence,  and  taken  alone  would 
not  be  sufficient  evidence  to  indicate  that  the  ^^lates  relate  to  the  same  sub- 
ject: but  when  we  take  all  the  resemblances  into  consideration,  especially 
the  rbore  important  ones  mentioned,  I  think  there  can  be  but  little  doubt 
left  upon  the  mind  of  any  one  that  these  four  plates  of  the  two  works,  in 
great  part,  at  least,  relate  to  the  same  subject — the  festivals  described  by 
Landa  as  occurring  at  the  close  of  the  j^ears.  To  which  year  or  years  a 
given  plate  refers  I  admit  is  a  point  in  regard  to  which  there  is  yet  some 
uncertainty.  This  necessarily  leaves  us  in  some  doubt  respecting  the  proper 
assignment  of  the  cardinal  or  direction  symbols;  but  this  fact  does  not 
affect  the  general  correctness  of  my  conclusions  as  to  the  subject-matter  of 
these  plates  and  the  meaning  of  the  figures  and  characters. 

Leaving  the  further  consideration  of  the  plates  of  the  Codex  to  a  future 
page,  I  will  now  call  attention  to  other  figures  and  characters  on  the  four 


U  S  G.  AND    G.  SURVEY 


MANUSCRIPT    TROANO    PL. IV. 


iU^iAA\X^' 


'7 


FAC-SIMILE  OF  PLATE    XX'II   OF  THE    CODEX   TROANO 


THOMAS.  1  EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  THE  FOUR  PLATES.  79 

plates  of  the  Manuscript  and  give  the  signifioation  of  them  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  make  this  out.  I  will  start  with  the  assumption  that  the  con- 
clusion drawn  from  the  comparison  just  made — that  they  relate  in  part  at 
least  to  the  festivals  of  the  supplemental  days — is  correct;  and  as  affording 
additional  evidence,  I  first  call  attention  to  the  following  facts:  Landa,  in  his 
account  of  the  ceremonies  relating  to  the  Muluc  year,  remarks  that  "the 
devil  commanded  them  to  offer  squirrels  and  a  cloth  cover  (or  cloth  orna- 
ment), without  embi-oidery,  woven  by  the  old  women  whose  office  it  was  to 
dance  in  the  temple  for  the  purpose  of  appeasing  the  god  Yax-coc-Ahmut." 

In  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XXI  (that  relating  to  the  Muluc  year) 
we  see  this  cloth,  which  we  judge  from  the  figure  was  to  be  worn  by  the 
priests.  It  is  plain  and  without  ornamentation,  save  what  is  on  the  strips 
at  the  side. 

The  same  account,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  quotation  in  full 
heretofore  made,  mentions  that  "among  other  things  performed  at  this  festi- 
val was  a  ballet  or  dance  executed  on  very  high  stilts"  (en  muy  altos  sancos). 
In  the  upper  division  of  the  same  plate  (XXI)  we  see  one  of  the  dancers 
on  stilts. 

It  also  states  that  "they  were  required  to  present  dogs  of  burnt  clay 
bearing  bread  on  the  back";  that  "the  old  women  were  obliged  to  dance 
with  these  dogs  in  their  hands,  and  to  sacrifice  to  the  god  a  little  dog  with 
black  shoulders."  In  the  lower  division  of  the  same  plate  we  observe  three 
figures  of  small  unspotted  dogs,  two  of  which  are  seated  on  human  feet, 
which  is  doubtless  intended  to  denote  that  they  are  carried  during  the 
dance.  To  the  right  is  another  figure  of  a  dog  marked  with  large  black 
spots,  and  bearing  on  its  back  the  symbol  of  Ymix  or  Iniix  mounted  on 
that  of  Kan. 

It  is  true  these  figures  do  not  agree  exactly  with  Landa's  description, 
as  he  does  not  appear  to  refer  to  the  two  classes  of  dog  images — the  plain 
and  the  spotted — but  to  the  latter  only.  But  we  may  expect  this  writer, 
who  mentions  these  things  more  incidentally  than  otherwise,  to  be  more  or 
less  confused  where  so  many  particulars  are  to  be  remembered,  especially 
if  his  work  was  written  in  Spain,  where  he  had  necessarily  to  rely  to  a 
great  extent  upon  his  memory.     But  the  fact  that  these  figures  are  found  on 


80  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

the  plate  that  relates  to  the  Muluc  years ;  the  peculiarly  marked  dog,  bearing 
these  symbols  on  its  back;  the  little  dog  images  on  the  feet,  together  Avith 
the  agreement  in  other  particulars,  ai'e  sufficient  to  warrant  us  in  concluding 
that  these  figures  relate  to  the  ceremonies  he  describes.  Taking  the  figures 
and  statement  together  I  conclude  that  the  little  plain  dog-images,  three  of 
which  are  represented,  were  those  carried  during  the  dance,  while  the 
spotted  one  bearing  the  characters  on  its  back — of  which  there  is  but  a 
single  figure — represents  that  which  was  to  be  sacrificed.  In  the  collection 
of  pottery  made  by  Colonel  Stevenson  in  1880  among  the  Pueblos  of  New 
Mexico,  are  quite  a  number  of  plain  little  animal  images,  chiefly  those  of 
birds,  which  he  informs  me  were  used  in  hke  manner  by  the  Indians  of 
these  pueblos. 

If  I  am  correct  in  this  interpretation,  we  will  then  be  warranted  in  con- 
cluding that  the  double  character  (Fig.  10)  signifies  "bread,"  doubtless 
"bread  of  maize."  Taken  separately  we  knowthat  the  upper  is  used 
as  the  symbol  of  the  day  Ymix  or  Imix,  and  the  lower  of  Kan; 
but  the  primar}^  significations  of  these  words,  or  rather  the  words 
Fig.  10.  that  these  symbols  stand  for,  is  somewhat  doubtful.  Perez  gives  no 
definition  of  the  former,  neither  in  his  lexicon  nor  Cronologia.  Brasseur 
gives  the  following  signification  in  his  Vocabulary — "Deep  pit;  issue  from 
a  focus  or  of  the  breast";  but  in  a  note  to  the  Cronologia  (§  II)  he  makes 
this  remark:  ''Ymix,  written  Imoxin  the  Quiche  Calendar,  in  that  of  Chiapas 
is  represented  under  the  image  of  a  marine  monster  of  a  peculiar  form;  it 
is  the  Cipadli  of  the  Mexican  Calendar,  given  by  Nunez  de  la  Vega,  as  the 
first  father  of  the  race  of  these  countries."  The  latter  (Kan)  has  several 
significations,  such  as  "a  cord  or  string  of  henequin,"  "yellow,"  "a  certain 
measure,"  "  red  earth,"  "  clay,"  &c.  He  also  gives  as  other  meanings,  "  in- 
creased," "  elevated,"  "  manifest,"  "  consolidated,"  &c.  But  I  judge  from 
Perez's  language  that*the  ancient  signification  was  somewhat  uncertain. 

The  Maya  word  for  "maize"  is  Ixini,  and  I  am  strongly  inclined  to 
believe  that  Imix  is  but  a  synonym,  also  that  the  symbol  was  originally 
used  to  signify  this  great  food  plant.  I  think  it  also  probable  that  the  sym- 
bol for  Kan  was  used  originally  to  represent  the  "grain"  of  corn,  hence  the 
fathered  and  stored  corn  or  ears,  and  that  the  name  was  derived  from  the 


THOMAs.i  CHARAOTEKS  YMIX  AND  KAN.  81 

yellow  or  golden  color.  On  Plates  XIX*  and  XX*  of  the  second  part  of  the 
Manuscript — lowest  division — we  observe  women  bearing  burdens  on  their 
backs  in  baskets; -the  substance  carried  by  three  out  of  six  is  represented 
by  Kan  symbols,  and  is  probably  ga-thered  maize. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  one  of  the  names  of  tiieir  chief  deity  Zamna 
or  Itzamna,  is  Itzen-caan,  signifying  the  "dew  of  heaven,"  or  "substance 
from  heaven."  Itzen  and  Itzam  are  given  by  the  lexicons  as  equivalents, 
and  tzen,  and  its  derivatives,  contains  througliout  the  idea  of  food  or  that 
which  sustains  life.  Ixkan-Leox  was  the  name  of  a  female  divinity  supposed 
to  be  the  spouse  of  Zamna;  the  signification  of  the  name,  according  to 
Brasseur,  is  "  CeUe  de  la  fronds  jaune  aux  grains  de  mais^';  in  other  words,  the 
"  silk."  In  the  upper  division  of  Plate  19  (Codex)  is  the  figure  of  a  woman 
bearing  the  same  characters  on  her  back,  one  above  another,  as  on  the  Manu- 
script plate.  Just  behind  her  is  the  figure  of  a  man  or  male  deity,  which  I 
judge  from  the  long  beard  to  be  Kukulcan,  or  Zamna,  bearing  on  his  back 
the  same  two  characters.  From  these  facts  and  others  which  might  be 
mentioned  I  am  satisfied  there  was  an  intimate  connection  in  the  minds  of 
this  people  between  maize  and  this  deity. 

The  two  symbols  in  this  form  (Fig.  11),  and  also  in  reverse  order,  some- 
times with  and  sometimes  without  the  accompanying  char- 
acters over  them,  are  of  very  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
Manuscript  and  Codex.  That  characters  similar  to  the  ac- 
companying ones  here  shown  are  used  in  the  Mexican  Codi- 
ces to  represent  cakes  of  bread  or  tortillas  is  well  known;  whether  they  have 
the  same  signification  in  this  connection  is  a  point  that  will  be  discussed 
hereafter. 

Our  next  step  will  be  to  determine,  if  possible,  which  of  the  figures  shown 
on  these  plates  represent  the  Uayeyab  idols.  As  we  have  already  shown, 
there  were,  according  to  Landa,  four  of  these,  as  follows :  Kan-u-  Uayeyah, 
for  the  Kan  years;  Cliac-u-Uayeyah,  for  the  Muluc  years;  Zac-u-Uayeyah, 
for  the  Ix  years,  and  Ek-u-  Uayeyab,  for  the  Cauac  years.  We  may  assume, 
I  think,  without  any  fear  of  being  in  error,  that  the  left-hand  figures  in  the 
lowest  division  of  the  four  plates  of  the  Codex  are  intended  as  representa- 
tives of  these  images.     They  are  the  only  ones  placed  on  the  stone-heap 

6  M   T 


82  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TEOANO. 

symbol ;  three  of  them  are  exactly  alike,  and  to  them  the  priests  are  offering 
the  decapitated  fowls. 

Turning  to  the  plates  of  the  Manuscript  we  find  the  question  more  diffi- 
cult to  solve;  first,  because  there  are  on  each  plate  (except  one)  two  figures 
seated  on  stone  symbols;  and  second,  because  these  figures  are  wholly  dif- 
ferent from  those  in  the  Codex.  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  one  of 
each  of  these  pairs  represents  one  of  these  idols.  But  which  one?  The 
one  not  seated  on  the  symbol  is  that  at  the  left  of  the  lower  division  of  Plate 
XXII.  We  may  therefore  assume  that  the  white  figure  at  the  right  with  a 
sinuous  line  down  the  face,  and  seated  on  the  stone  symbol  is  the  idol  Kan- 
u-Uayeyah  or  CJmc-n-Uayeyab ;  the  former,  if  the  ceremonies  here  shown 
refer  to  the  commencement  of  the  Kan  year,  the  latter  if  they  refer  to  the 
close.  As  the  con-esponding  figure  on  Plate  XXIII  (Cauac  year)  bears  on 
its  head  the  Kan  symbol  it  most  likely  represents  the  former,  and  that  on 
Plate  XXII  the  latter.  The  corresponding  figure  on  Plate  XXI  varies  con- 
siderably from  the  other  two  noticed ;  still  there  is  sufficient  resemblance  to 
induce  me  to  decide  that  it  (the  one  at  the  right  in  the  lower  division)  is  the 
Uayeyab  idol — Chac-u-Uayeyah  or  Zac-u-TJayeyab. 

The  figures  on  Plate  XX  present  still  greater  difficulty,  if  possible,  fhat 
on  the  right  being  wholly  diff'erent  from  the  others.  As  tliis  plate  refers  to 
the  Ix  years  we  should  expect  this  variation,  having  found  such  to  be  tlie 
case  on  the  Codex  plates,  and  would  decide  at  once,  notwithstanding  this 
difference,  that  it  represented  the  Uayeyab  idol,  were  it  not  for  certain  facts 
to  be  noticed.  During  the  festival  of  the  Ix  years  one  of  the  images  made 
represented  the  god  Yzamna  or  Itzamna.  Whether  this  deity  was  identical 
with  Kukulcan  or  not  is  a  question  in  reference  to  which  the  authorities  are 
undecided.  If  we  assume  they  are  identical,  the  beard  on  the  figure  at  the 
right  would  lead  us  to  conclude  that  it  was  intended  to  represent  this  deity. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  bird  with  the  protruded  tongue  seated  on  the 
head-dress  of  the  figure  at  the  left  is  one  of  the  symbols  of  Quetzalcoatl, 
the  equivalent  of  Kukulcan.  We  also  observe  that  the  Ara,  the  sun  emblem, 
is  immediately  opposite  the  latter,  toward  which  he  is  pointing  his  fingers, 
which  is  a  well-known  symbol  of  Itzamna.  Taking  all  these  facts  into 
consideration,  I  conclude  that  the  figure  to  the  right  is  the  Uayeyab  idol, 


U.  S.  G.  AND  G.  SURVEY. 


MANUSCRIPT  TROANOPL  V. 


Z'-*±\ 


U 


6 


Q/y\^ 


Fac  Simile  of  Plate  25  of  the  Dresden  Codex. 


THOMAB.i  EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  PLATE  XXIIL  83 

a.nd  that  the  one  at  the  left  represents  Itzamna,  whom  I  believe  to  be  a  dis- 
tinct personage  from  Kukulcan.  I  have  been  unable  to  arrive  at  a  satis- 
factory conclusion  in  regard  to  the  opposite  or  left-hand  figures  on  the  other 
plates,  except  that  on  Plate  XXIII,  which  I  think  represents  the  god  of 
death. 

We  will  now  turn  to  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XXIII  and  examine 
some  of  the  figures  contained  in  it.  Near  the  left  margin  is  the  figure  of  a 
headless  trunk  marked  with  dotted  lines  and  little  circles;  on  it  is  the  S3^m- 
bol  of  Caban  and  the  figure  of  a  machete.  It  is  probable  that  this  repre- 
sents the  body  of  the  "dead  man"  which  Landa  says  was  carried  during 
the  festival  of  the  Cauac  years,  as  the  dotted  Hues  and  circlets  thereon  cor- 
respond with  that  borne  by  the  Chac  in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  28  of 
the  Codex.  As  the  festival  of  the  Cauac  years  was  observed  during  the 
closing  days  of  the  Ix  years — those  with  which,  according  to  the  theory  I 
have  advanced,  the  lustres,  ahaues,  and  cycles  closed — I  think  it  probable 
this  figure  is  intended  to  signify  the  close  of  one  of  these  periods,  possibly 
the  first,  as  this  appears  to  be  the  idea  signified  in  the  Codex.  I  am  fully 
aware  of  the  difficulty  of  reconciling  this  explanation  with  the  fact  that  this 
figure  appears  on  the  plate  in  the  Codex  which  apparently  refers  to  the 
Muluc  years  and  is  marked  by  the  terminal  days  of  the  Kan  years.  But 
this  fact  will  not  warrant  the  rejection  of  my  interpretation,  as  the  error,  if 
there  is  one,  relates  to  the  order  in  which  I  have  arranged  the  years.  I 
would  also  suggest  that  it  is  possible  the  calendars  of  the  two  works  are  not 
precisely  alike — one  may  commence  the  series  with  a  different  year  from 
that  with  whicli  the  other  begins;  in  fact,  the  order  of  the  plates  in  the  two 
works  seems  to  indicate  this.  It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  25  of  the 
Codex  corresponds  with  XX  of  the  Manuscript,  yet  tliat  in  the  Codex  is  first 
while  that  of  the  Manuscript  is  the  last  of  the  four  (the  order  here  being,  as 
I  have  shown,  the  revei'se  of  the  paging).  The  year  in  which  the  figure 
api)ears,  according  to  the  Manuscript,  corresponds  with  Landa's  statement, 
while  that  of  the  Codex  does  not.  If  we  decide  that  the  series  of  years 
cortimenced  with  Kan  and  ended  with  Cauac,  the  interpretation  would  still 
agree  with  tlie  Manuscript  and  Landa,  as  then  we  would  have  to  suppose 
that  Plate  XXIII  refers  chiefly  to  the  close  of  the  Cauac  and  commence- 
ment of  the  Kan  years. 


84  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

In  the  lower  left-hand  cornei'of  the  same  division  we  observe  the  figure 
of  a  deity,  with  a  fiery  red  face,  marked  as  the  sj^mbol  for  Ahau,  bearing 
in  his  hand  a  torch  and  on  his  head  what  appears  to  be  two  little  wings 
This  I  presume  represents  Kinch-Aliau-Itzamna  (Kinch-Ahau,  the  lord  of 
the  mouth  or  eye  of  the  sun  or  day),  one  of  the  idols  made  during  the 
festival  of  the  Ix  years.  Here  it  appears  to  be  sinking  out  of  sight  below 
the  western  horizon,  casting  back  its  fiery  rays  as  indicated  by  the  torch. 
As  it  belongs  to  the  Ix  year,  which  is  here  brought  to  a  close,  it  would  of 
course  be  retired.  The  headless  figure  immediately  above  it,  and  the  Caban 
or  Cab  which  signifies  "to  descend"  or  "sink  below,"  and  the  signification 
of  the  blue  figure,  as  heretofore  explained,  all  agree  exactly  with  this  in- 
terpretation. The  wings  [if  such  they  be]  on  the  head  probably  refer  to 
the  Ara,  the  sun  tok^n.  The  bird  in  the  center,  seated  on  the  head-dress, 
may  possibly  represent  or  symbolize  the  "burnt  bird,"  or  "bird  reduced  to 
ashes"  (the  meaning  of  the  original  is  very  obscure),  of  which  Landa  speaks; 
the  bill  in  the  figure,  it  is  true,  is  scarcely  appropriate  for  a  rapacious  bird, 
which  the  Kucli  appears  to  have  been,  but  exact  repi-esentations  are  not  to 
be  expected  in  this  work. 

The  color  appropriate  to  the  Cauac  year  (the  one  assigned  to  the 
south),  as  indicated  by  the  Maya  word  Ek,  was  black;  according  with  this, 
the  lai'ge  figure  at  the  right  of  the  upper  space,  and  the  bird  in  the  lower 
space,  are  of  this  color. 

The  serpent,  we  know,  was  a  symbol  used  in  the  Mexican  Calendar  to 
denote  a  long  period  of  time,  especially  the  cycle  of  52  years.  It  is  also  a 
prominent  figure  on  these  plates  of  the  Manuscript,  being  found,  in  three  of 
them,  coiled  under  the  clay  vessels.  (See  both  divisions  of  XXI,  XXII, 
and  XXIII.)  Under  each  of  the  vessels  in  XXIII,  and  that  of  the  upper 
division  of  XXII,  it  is  in  two  coils;  in  the  lower  division  of  the  latter  the 
head  is  thrust  out,  apparently  in  compliance  with  the  solicitation  of  the 
white  personage  to  the  right;  on  Plate  XXI  (both  divisions)  but  one  coil 
remains;  and  on  Plate  XX  we  see  nothing  more  of  it.  What  is  it  designed 
to  represent  on  these  plates  f  That  it  is  a  symbol  of  some  period  of  time 
will  scarcely  be  doubted ;  but  what  period  ? 


THOMAS.  1  THE  SERPENT  SYMBOL.  85 

Turning  to  the  plates  of  the  Codex,  we  find  that  it  appears  there  also 
on  but  three  out  of  the  four,  being  absent  in  both  cases  on  the  page  refer- 
ring to  the  Ix  years.  We  also  observe  that  on  each  plate  of  the  Manuscript 
where  the  serpent  appears  the  vessels  bear  Kan  symbols. 

It  is  evident,  from  what  has  already  been  shown,  that  the  four  plates 
in  each  work  are  intended  to  cover  exactly  one  cycle.  This  is  proven  by 
the  fact  that  on  each  the  day  symbols  are  repeated  thirteen  times.  It  is 
true  that  the  period  embraced  by  the  plates  of  the  Manuscript  does  not  coin- 
cide with  any  one  cycle,  but  it  covers  the  thirteen  different  years  of  each 
of  the  four  dominical  days,  giving  them  in  regular  order,  thus  making  one 
complete  cycle.  The  design  in  the  Codex  appears  to  be  to  indicate  in  a 
general  manner  the  character  of  the  feasts  of  the  supplemental  days  only,  and 
to  show  by  the  thirteen  day-symbols  that  this  is  to  be  applied  to  all  the  years 
of  the  cycle  ;  while  the  plates  of  the  Manuscript  are  apparently  designed  to 
give  the  same  general  idea,  but  at  the  same  time  to  refer  to  a  specific  period, 
and  also  that  this  period  shall  include  the  close  and  commencement  of  the 
two  great  periods;  hence  the  years  are  specified  in  the  latter,  while  they 
are  not  in  the  former;  the  latter  also  includes  allusions  to  other  festivals 
than  those  of  the  Uayeyab. 

Taking  for  granted,  then,  that  these  plates  are  intended  to  cover  one 
cycle,  and  that  the  serpent  denotes  a  period  of  time,  the  natunil  presump- 
tion would  be  that  it  here  represents  a  cycle,  for,  although  we  find  evident 
allusion  to  the  Ahau  in  these  plates  of  the  Manuscript,  we  see  nothing  of 
the  kind  in  those  of  the  Codex.^ 

We  might  very  reasonably  suppose  those  on  the  plates  of  the  Codex 
indicated  the  year,  but  a  close  inspection  of  that  on  Plate  26  will  show  that 
it  differs  considerably  from  the  other  two,  is  evidently  in  a  dying  condition, 
and  is  marked  with  the  fatal  dotted  line.  I  can  see  no  reason  for  this  dif- 
ference if  they  were  used  to  denote  the  year,  and,  aside  from  this,  the  fact 
that  each  one  of  the  idols  around  which  they  are  coiled  is  crowned  with  four 
leaves,  indicating  the  four  dominical  days,  would  seem  to  forbid  this  inter- 
pretation, which  certainly  cannot  be  applied  to  those  in  the  Manuscript. 

'  The  reader  will  understand  that  the  word  "plates"  in  tliis  connection  is  to  be  understood  as 
meaning  only  the  four  of  ■which  I  have  been  treating. 


86  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

If  they  refer  to  the  cycle,  then  each  coil  will  denote  two  Indications,  a 
supposition  with  which  the  pyramid  of  four  steps  on  Plate  XXII  (to  which 
I  will  presently  allude)  agrees  very  well.  A  fact  worthy  of  notice  in  this 
connection  is  that,  proceeding  with  the  pages  in  the  order  I  have  adopted, 
we  find  on  XXIII,  where  Cauac  is  the  ruling  day,  the  two  coils  are  com- 
plete; on  the  lower  or  closing  division  of  XXII,  where  Kan  is  the  ruling 
day,  one  coil  is  partially  withdrawn;  on  XXI,  where  Muluc  is  the  day, 
there  is  bitt  one  coil;  and  on  XX,  where  Ix — the  year  with  which  the  cycle 
closes — is  referred  to,  there  is  none. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  this  theory  is  that  if  any  allusion  to  the 
Indications  were  intended  there  should  be  four  coils  instead  of  two,  as  there 
are  four  of  these  periods  in  a  cycle.  But  the  serpent  may  be  used  here  only 
as  the  symbol  of  the  cycle  and  the  coils  may  have  no  particular  significa- 
tion; still  I  think  they  do  have,  as  there  are  two  to  each  on  the  Codex 
plates,  and  that  they  denote  the  two  halves  of  the  cycle.  Landa  mentions 
the  fact  that  the  two  halves  of  the  Ahau  were  specially  noted  by  the  Indians. 

It  is  possible  that  on  the  Codex  each  serpent  represents  the  series  of 
years  of  one  dominical  day  included  in  one  cycle;  that  is  to  say,  one 
column  of  a  cycle  as  given  in  the  previous  tables.  I  have  been  led  to  make 
this  suggestion  from  what  I  find  on  Plate  43  of  the  Borgian  Codex. 

Here  we  see  four  sei'pents,^  coiled  so  as  to  form  the  sides  of  a  square, 
and  the  four  squares  brought  together  so  as  to  bring  the  heads  to  the  center. 
On  the  body  of  each  is  a  series  of  circles  representing  as  I  believe  years; 
counting  the  small  subcaudal  one,  there  a?'e  exactly  thirteen  on  each  ser- 
pent. 

Each  of  these  serpent  figures  may  represent  an  Indication,  but  the 
figure  and  the  day  signs  in  the  spaces  and  the  order  in  which  they  stand 
incline  me  to  believe  that  they  relate  to  the  series  under  the  respective 
dominical  days.  The  five  day  signs  in  the  spaces  are  doubtless  the  five 
added  days — this  can,  I  presume,  easily  be  determined;  but  as  I  have  not 
entered  upon  the  study  of  the  Mexican  Calendar,  and  have  not  the  proper 
works  at  hand  for  this  purpose,  I  leave  this  for  others  to  decide.  In  the 
upper  right-hand  square  the  inclosed  figure  is  black,  reminding  us  of  the 

'These  are  really  mODsters,  as  tliey  are  represented  with  anterior  limbs. 


U.  S.  C.  AND  G.  SURVF.y. 


MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO  ri.  VI. 


Lf^  ^iioi^a 


,/      ^^      61^,MA 


P»c,n/En/cC<,MY 


Fac  .Simile  of  Plate  -itj  of  tiik  Dkesden  Cudex. 


THOMAS]  .        EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  PL ATBS ^XX-XXIII.  87 

black  figure  in  Plate  XXIII  of  the  Manuscript.  In  front  of  each  inclosed 
figure,  and  immediately  over  the  head  of  the  serpent,  is  an  urn.  The  snout 
of  each  serpent  is  crowned  with  a  plume-tipped  process.  These  resem- 
blances, notwithstanding  the  otherwise  great  dissimilarity  of  the  figures  of 
this  plate  of  the  Borgian  Codex  to  those  of  the  other  two  works,  render  it 
quite  probable  that  they  relate  to  the  same  general  subject.^  I  think  it 
very  probable  that  the  serpent  was  sometimes  used  to  symbolize  the  Ahau, 
as  for  example  on  Plates  33,  34,  35,  and  69  of  the  Dresden  Codex;  that  on 
Plate  33  to  denote  the  6th  Ahau,  that  on  34  the  3d;  that  on  35  the  8th,  and 
that  on  69  the  10th.  The  lustres  are  evidently  indicated  on  the  last  by 
the  colors. 

Turning  again  to  the  plates  of  the  Manuscript,  we  notice  the  figure  of 
an  animal  of  some  kind  mounted  on  the  right-hand  personage  in  the  upper 
division  of  XXI,  XXII,  and  XXIII.  The  peculiar  form  of  the  eye  shows 
these  to  be  quadrupeds.  They  are  doubtless  mounted  on  these  individuals 
to  show  that  they  are  Chacs,  corresponding  with  those  in  the  upper  division 
of  the  Codex  plates. 

We  may  as  well  call  attention  here  to  the  fact  that  several  of  these 
things  which  appear  on  the  other  plates  and  seem  to  be  equally  applicable 
to  all  the  vears  alike,  are  wanting  on  Plate  XX,  which  relates  to  the  Ix 
years.  For  example,  the  serpent  is  wholly  wanting  here ;  there  is  no  animal 
denoting  the  Chac,  and  one  at  least  of  the  clay  vessels  is  missing.  What 
does  this  signify  1  I  confess  that  I  am  somewhat  at  a  loss  how  to  account 
for  it,  but,  from  my  examinations  and  what  has  been  ascertained,  am  dis- 
posed to  explain  it  by  the  fact  that  Ix  is  the  closing  year  of  the  lusters  and 
cycles,  and  that  the  things  mentioned,  being  symbols  of  one  or  the  other  of 
these  periods  or  depending  upon  them,  properly  disappear  with  this  year. 
If  this  view  be  correct,  it  will  probably  enable  us  to  assign  a  signification  to 
the  large  (supposed)  red-clay  vessels  placed  on  the  serpent  coils  in  Plates 
XXI-XXIII.     Vayeb-haah  or  Uayeyah  (the  latter  is  but  a  contraction  of  the 

'In  a  pamphlet  by  Sr.  J.  M.  Melgar,  of  Vera  Cruz,  entitled  "A  comparative  view  of  the  sym- 
bolical signs  of  the  Ancient  Systems  of  Theogony  and  Cosmogony,  and  those  existing  in  the  Mexican 
MSS.,  as  published  by  Kingsborough,  and  the  alto-relievos  on  a  wall  in  Chichen-Itza,"  1872,  which  Dr. 
Foreman,  of  the  Smithsonian,  has  very  kindly  translated  for  me,  I  find  a  somewhat  different  interpreta- 
tion of  this  plate  of  the  Borgian  Coilex.     This  will  bo  found  iu  my  Appendix  No.  2. 


88  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

former)  signifies  the  "bed  of  the  year."  As  the  vessels  are  placed  on  the 
serpent,  and  hence  cannot  represent  incense-bumers,  it  is  not  impossible  that 
they  are  symbols  of  the  idea  expressed  in  these  Maya  words. 

The  character  C  q  LLLU  o~^  which,  according  to  Landa  is  the  hieroglyph 
forthe  letter  M,  which  in  Ma3^a  signifies  "vase"  (also  "moon"),  is  common  on 
the  vase-figures  throughout  the  work;  but  on  these  vessels  we  notice  parts  of 
other  characters  which  together  with  the  one  given  may  be  the  symbols  for 
Uayeyah.  This  I  admit  is  a  mere  supposition,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  be  a 
forced  one;  moreover,  the  following  explanation  by  Perez  may  serve  to 
strengthen  it':  "They  called  them  [the  added  days]  also  uayah  or  uayeh- 
haab,  which  may  be  interj^reted  in  two  different  ways.  The  word  uaijnh  may 
be  derived  from  uoy  which  means  'bed'  or  'chamber,'  presuming  tlie  Indians 
believed  the  year  to  rest  during  those  days;  or  itayab  may  equally  be  derived 
from  another  signification  of  uay,  viz:  'to  be  destroyed,'  'wounded,'  'cor- 
roded by  the  caustic  juice  of  plants,'  or  with  ley  and  other  strong  liquids."^ 

I  think  it  probable  that  these  are  cinerary  urns,  given  as  symbolic  rep- 
resentations of  the  idea  that  the  years  have  closed — are  dead — and  as  the 
ashes  of  the  dead  rest  in  the  urns  so  the  ashes  of  the  years  may  be  said  to 
rest  in  these  vessels.  This  idea  appesirs  to  be  borne  out  by  the  fact  that 
the  vessel  in  the  middle  division  of  Plate  '28  of  the  Codex,  which  ajjpears  to 
correspond  to  these  of  the  Manuscript,  has  on  it  the  figure  of  cross-bones, 
on  the  top  of  which  are  placed  three  Kan  symbols. 

Stephens  in  his  "Yucatan"  mentions  the  fact  that  it  is  the  custom  of  the 
Indians  to  gather  up  the  bones  of  the  dead  and  preserve  them  in  baskets, 
boxes,  and  other  similar  vessels.  Pie  mentions  one  case  where  "they  were 
clean  and  bright  as  if  polished,  with  the  skull  and  cross-bones  in  front,  the 
legs  and  arms  laid  on  the  bottom,"  &c."  It  is  moi'e  than  probable  that  this 
custom  was  handed  down  from  ancient  times. 

What  the  Kan  symbols  contained  in  these  vessels  signify  is  a  question 
that  puzzles  me,  and  which  I  have  so  far  been  unable  to  answer  satisfacto- 
rily. In  the  Manuscript  we  see  three  in  both  vessels  of  Plate  XXIII; 
three  in  the  upper  and  two  in  the  lower  division  of  Plate  XXII;  also  three 
in  the  upper  and  two  in  the  lower  division  of  Plate  XXI,  but  the  top  one 

'Appendix  to  "  SteiAeus's  Yucatan,"  I,  437.  •  =  Vol.  I,  p.  417. 


THOMAS]  MEANING  OF  THE  KAN  SYMBOLS.  89 

in  the  uppei"  is  surrounded  by  a  heavy  black  border,  while  iu  the  lower  a 
black  bird  appears  to  be  in  the  act  of  devouring  a  third,  presented  to  it  by 
the  white  personage  at  the  right.  On  Plate  XX  there  are  two  in  the  similar 
vessel  in  the  lower  division,  and  two  connected  with  another  character  in 
the  upper. 

Turning  to  the  Codex,  we  find  the  arrangement,  so  far  as  these  charac- 
ters are  concerned,  quite  dififei'ent.  On  Plate  25  we  see  but  one,  and  that 
in  the  middle  division;  on  26  one  in  the  middle  and  two  in  the  lower 
division;  on  27  two  in  the  third  or  lowest  division,  with  the  figure  of  a 
fish  upon  them;  on  28  three  in  the  middle,  above  the  cross-bones.  If  the 
vessels  are  to  be  considered  as  cinerary  urns,  figuratively  holding  the  ashes 
of  the  dead  years,  these  Kan  symbols  must  be  in  some  way  connected 
therewith,  but  the  numbers  on  the  different  ones  cannot  easily  be  made  to 
ao-ree  with  any  of  the  periods  of  the  calendar.  Possibly  they  may  simply 
represent  ears  of  maize  or  tortillas  cast  into  these  vessels.  The  fish  placed 
on  those  in  the  third  division  indicate,  as  I  believe,  that  here  they  are 
intended  to  represent  corn  or  bread,  for  the  position  of  the  figure  shows 
that  it  is  meant  for  one  of  the  offerings  made  to  the  idol,  which  Landa  says 
consisted  of  "drinks,  dishes  of  food,  meats,  fish,"  &c.  The  vessel  just  above 
this,  in  the  same  division,  probably  contains  fruits  or  gourds  (calabashes). 

If  we  suppose  them  to  be  time  symbols,  we  may  possibly  find  an 
argument  in  favor  of  interpreting  them  years  in  the  fact  that  on  Plate 
XXIII,  where  there  are  three  in  the  vessel  iu  the  lower  division,  there  is  a 
fourth  one  on  the  head  of  the  personage  at  the  riglit,  who  we  have  sup- 
posed is  the  personage  that  represents  the  year.  By  counting  this  we  have 
the  four  years.  The  one  withdrawn  and  placed  upon  the  head  of  the  image 
represents  (saj^)  the  Cauac  year.  This  leaves  three,  as  shown  in  the  vessel. 
In  tlie  lower  division  of  Plate  XXII  there  are  but  two,  another  having  been 
withdrawn  to  represent  the  Kan  year.  So  far  we  meet  with  no  obstacle  to 
our  interpretation;  but  when  we  come  to  Plate  XXI  we  find  there  are 
three,  and  on  Plate  XX  two,  a  fact  which  is  difficult  to  explain  on  this 
theory. 

Turning  again  to  Plate  XXII,  we  observe  on  the  head  of  the  individ- 
ual at  the  right  of  the  upper  compartment  two  triangles.     These  remind 


90  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

us  very  strongly  of  the  triangles  on  the  outer  circle  of  the  Mexican  calendar 
stone,  and,  although  these  are  at  the  head  of  the  animal,  while  those  are  at 
the  tails  of  the  serpents,  I  think  it  probable  they  have  the  same  significa- 
tion— the  completion  of  the  cycle.  This  opinion,  I  believe,  is  confirmed 
by  the  figures  at  the  left  of  the  same  compartment.  Here  we  observe  two 
falling  figures.  The  lower,  pale  brown,  with  cords  on  his  arms  and  legs,  is 
being  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  pyramidal  pile,  on  which  he  falls,  as  shown 
by  the  blood  which  is  streaming  over  it.  The  upper  one  is  white,  the  side 
of  the  head  marked  with  a  sinuous  line,  as  that  in  the  lower  right-hand 
corner  of  the  lower  division  of  Plate  XXIII.  That  these  two  figures  sym- 
bolize periods  of  time  can  scarcely  be  doubted,  the  dark  one  sti-iking  the 
pyramid  that  which  is  expiring.  The  four  steps  of  the  pyramid  probably 
denote  "indications"  or  "weeks  of  years,"  and,  hence,  all  taken  together 
represent  the  C3"cle.  In  the  dark  base  we  see  a  sigmoid  character  similar  to 
that  which  Landa  gives  for  the  letter  N,  which  may  possibly  be  the  symbol 
for  the  Maya  word  Noh,  "grand."  Here  we  see  that  one  of  the  steps  is 
black,  which  is  the  characteristic  color  of  one  of  the  four  dominical  days 
and  of  one  of  the  four  plates  of  the  Manuscript.  These  facts,  I  think,  are 
sufficient  to  warrant  us  in  assuming  that  the  whole  jiyramid  represents  the 
cycle,  and  is,  no  doubt,  the  "monument"  raised  at  the  termination  of  this 
period,  in  reference  to  which  Perez  makes  the  following  remark:  "This 
period  of  fifty-two  years  was  called  by  the  Indians  Katun,  and  at  its  conclu- 
sion great  feasts  were  celebrated,  and  a  monument  was  raised,  on  which  a 
large  stone  was  placed  crosswise,  as  is  signified  by  the  Avord  Kat-tun,  for  a 
memento  and  record  of  the  cycles  or  Katunes  that  had  elapsed." 

The  two  falling  figures  probably  represent  yeai-s,  the  dark  one  the 
closing  year  of  one  cycle  or  other  period  and  the  white  the  first  of  the  fol- 
lowing. I  am  led  to  this  conclusion  from  the  strong  resemblance  of  the 
white  figure  to  those  in  the  lower  right-hand  corner  of  the  lower  division 
of  Plates  XXII  and  XXIII,  which  I  have  supposed  represent  the  Uayeyab 
idols. 

At  the  top  of  the  left-hand,  or  day,  column  of  Plate  XX,  and  else- 

A    9    « 

where  in   these   four  plates,  we    find   this    unusual   rtd  character 


U.  S.  G.  AND  C.  SURVEY. 


MANUSCRIPT  TROANO  Fl.  IT/. 


M^  IK: 


1v 


Aki 


/^<y/^/Tyg  CaMY 


Fac  Simile  (u-  Plate  •il  of  the  Dresden  Codex, 


T„oMA8.]      CnAEACTEES  IN  THE  MIDDLE  LINE,  PLATES  XX-XXIII.         91 

sometimes  with  and  sometimes  without  dots  over  it.  Over  the  Ix  cohimn — 
Plate  XX — there  are  two  of  these  characters,  the  upper  with  three  dots 
over  it,  the  other  with  one.  In  the  upper  edge  of  the  upper  space  of  the 
same  plate  there  is  another  Avithout  any  dots  over  it.  Those  over  the  Muluc 
column — Plate  XXI — are  too  thoroughly  obliterated  to  be  made  out,  but 
in  the  upper  space  of  this  plate  we  see  a  very  distinct  one  with  two  dots 
over  it.  There  are  none  over  the  Kan  column  of  Plate  XXII,  but  in  tlie 
upper  space  there  appears  to  be  one,  though  too  badly  defaced  to  be  made 
out  with  certainty.  There  is  one  over  the  Cauac  column — Plate  XXIII — 
with  one  dot  over  it,  and  in  the  upper  space  another,  with  two  dots  over  it, 
above  which  is  another  in  black,  but  i-eversed,  and  without  dots.  On  the 
title  page  there  are  two  lines  of  somewhat  similar  figures,  but  presenting 
some  differences,  which  render  it  doubtful  whether  they  have  the  same 
signification  as  those  on  the  four  plates. 

There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  these  characters  are  used  here  to 
denote  certain  periods  of  time.  But  wdiat  periods  is  a  question  I  have  so 
far  been  unable  to  answer  satisfactorily.  I  will  therefore  postpone  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  point  to  a  subsequent  page. 

In  the  broad  line  separating  the  two  divisions  of  each  plate  we  observe 
certain  square  characters,  some  of  which  are  readily  recognized  as  day 
symbols.  Those  on  Plate  XXIII  reading  from  left  to  right  are — first,  Eza- 
nab;  second,  Akhal;  thii'd,  the  character  which  Brasseur  says  stands  for  M, 
and  fourth,  possibly  a  variant  of  Lamat.  On  Plate  XXII,  reading  in  the  same 
direction — Lamat  {f),  31  f,  Ezanab,  and  Akhal;  on  Plate  XXI, -£■.?«««&,  pos- 
sibly a  variant  of  Been,  Akhal,  Lamat,  and  (?);  on  Plate  XX,  Been,  Akhal, 
31  f,  Ezanah,  and  Lamat.  Two  only  in  each  line  can  be  determined  with  any 
degree  of  certainty.  These  days  are  the  closing  ones  of  the  different  years, 
and  are  very  appropriate  in  this  place,  and  bear  the  same  relation  to  these 
plates  as  those  in  the  columns  of  the  Codex  do  to  those  plates.  Their  posi- 
tion here  also  (jonfirms  the  view  I  have  heretofore  incidentally  advanced, 
that  the  upper  division  of  these  plates  relates  chiefly  to  the  closing  days  of 
one  year  and  the  lower  to  the  commencement  of  the  following.  The  character 
which  I  have  denoted  by  the  letter  31  is  the  same  as  that  which  I  have 
interpreted  as  designating  "the  north,"  except  that  it  is  without  the  prefix. 


92  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

I  strongly  suspect  that  it  is  the  symbol  for  Am,  the  sacred  stone  by  means 
of  which  they  cast  the  horoscope,  and  which  was  doubtless  the  same  as 
those  named  by  Landa  Acantim.  The  loop  or  knot  on  Plates  XXI  and 
XXII  probably  signifies  the  tying  of  the  years,  the  close  of  one  cycle  or 
other  period  and  the  commencement  of  another.^  There  are  but  two  of 
these,  and  they  probably  correspond  with  the  figures  on  which  the  Chacs  in 
Plates  27  and  28  of  the  Codex  are  walking.  These  appear  to  be  bundles 
of  cords  or  reeds  bound  at  four  points,  representing  the  four  dominical  days 
(the  four  years),  each  representing  thirteen  years  of  the  cycle,  or  possibly 
only  one  year  of  the  luster. 

Plate  XX,  which  has  Ix  as  the  dominical  day,  appears  to  bear  one 
or  two  of  the  tokens  mentioned  by  Landa  in  his  description  of  the  festival 
of  the  Cauac  years.  This  author  remarks  that,  "after  they 
have  placed  the  images  in  the  temple,  they  perfume  them,  as  is 
their  custom,  and  present  to  them  two  pellets  of  resin  fi-om  a 
tree  called  kik,  for  the  purpose  of  burning  them,  also  some 
iguanas,  bread,  a  mitre,  a  bouquet  of  flowers,  and  a  stone  which 
they  hold  in  great  honor."  We  see  projecting  from  the  head- 
FiG.  vi.  dress  of  the  figure  in  the  lower  right-hand  corner  of  the  lower 
division  what  appears  to  be  a  flower.  In  the  upper  division  we  see  at  the 
left  an  individual  burning  incense.  In  the  coiTesponding  plate  of  the  Codex 
(25),  middle  division,  is  this  figure  (Fig.  1 2),  which  I  have  concluded  is  a 
symbol  of  the  particular  incense  here  mentioned. 

'  It  resembles  the  Mesicau  character  for  the  day  OUin  or  ''Earthquake." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

SUGGESTIONS  AS  TO  THE  PROBABLE  MEANING  OF  SOME 
OF  THE  FIGURES  ON  THE  OTHER  PLATES. 

PART   FIRST    OF   THE    MANUSCRIPT. 

Plates  II  to  Vn  of  the  first  part  appear  to  relate  to  one  general  sub- 
ject, if  we  can  judge  of  tliis  by  the  figures  and  symbols,  but  what  that 
general  subject  is  I  am  as  yet  unable  to  determine  positively,  but  am  of  the 
opinion  that  they  relate,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  festivals  and  profession  of 
the  traveling  merchants. 

The  first  division  of  Plate  H  contains  two  figures.  The  one  to  the  left, 
a  quadruped  upon  a  brown  ground,  has  its  hind  feet  upon  an  oblong  figure, 
apparently  a  stone,  holding  by  its  fore  feet  to  a  cord  which  passes  round 
the  object  on  which  its  hind  feet  are  placed.  A  machete  is  plunged  into  the 
back,  forming  a  great  wound,  from  which  we  see  the  blood  flowing  out.  The 
character  on  which  he  stands  is  marked  with  the  trembling  cross,  which  sig- 
nifies "Ezanab"  or  "flint."  I  think  it  more  than  probable  that  this  is 
intended  to  denote  the  sacrifice  of  this  animal.  It  was  the  custom  to  sacri- 
fice a  dog  at  the  merchants'  festival,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  figure  is 
intended  to  represent  a  dog. 

A  similar  figure  and  with  similar  accompaniments  is  found  in  the  upper 
division  of  Plate  III.    I  find  among  the  characters  immediately  above  both 

of  these,  this  one  >tZ^^^^  J     The  right-hand  portion  appears  to  be  Landa's 

character  for  the  letter  "X."     If  we  suppose  the  inscription  to  have  any 
reference  to  the  figures  in  the  spaces,  we  may  give  this  two  possible  inter- 
pretations— the  first  01,  "heart,"  probably  denoting  the  sacrifice  of  the  ani- ' 
mal  or  person  by  the  usual  method  of  taking  out  the  heart.     Or,  supposing 


94  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

the  first  part  of  the  compound  character  to  be  simply  a  prefix  or  a  particle, 
the  chief  character  may  indicate  the  Ma3'a  word  Le,  signifying  "a  cord,"  "a 
lasso,"  or  cord  with  a  slip  knot.  I  find  the  same  character  over  the  middle 
figure  of  the  second  division  of  this  plate  (II),  also,  slightly  varied,  over 
the  left  figure  of  the  first  division  of  Plate  III.  In  each  case  we  see  the 
cord  and  also  the  indications  of  sacrifice.  The  same  character  is  also  found 
inmiediately  above  the  open  breast  of  the  sacrifi'ced  individual  on  Plate  3 
of  the  Dresden  Codex,  but  in  this  case  we  also  see  cords  around  the  hands 
and  feet. 

In  the  right-hand  compartment  of  the  upper  division  is  a  squatting 
human  figure  in  black  on  a  blue  ground,  doubtless  representing  some  deity. 
He  has  a  fiery  red  mouth  and  a  very  prominent  nose,  and  is  holding  by  the 
hand  a  cord,  which  passes  round  a  chai'acter  at  his  feet,  probably  represent- 
ing a  peddler's  pack.  On  his  head  he  bears  an  interlaced  or  cross-hatched 
figure  as  a  head-dress.  This  figure  I  think  represents  the  ancient  divinity 
Chicchac-CJiah  or  Chichac-Choh}  The  cross-hatched  character  on  the  head 
appears  to  be  used  to  indicate  the  sound  izi,  zi,  or  chi,  and  is  probably 
placed  here  to  denote  this  deity.  Similar  figures  are  found  in  various  parts  of 
of  the  Manuscript,  as,  for  example,  on  Plates  IV,  V,  VI,  VII,  XIX,  XVII*, 
XVIII*,  XXII*   XXIII*,  XXV*,  XXIX*,  XXX*,  XXXI*,  and  XXXII*. 

There  appear,  in  fact,  to  be  two  different  personages  represented  by 
these  figures,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  upper  division  of  Plate 
VI,  where  the  two  are  brought  face  to  face.  The  only  difference  observable 
is  in  the  form  of  the  eye.  According  to  Landa,  the  Indians,  during  the 
festival  of  the  Cauac  years,  made  four  idols  named  Chiccliac-cliob,  Ekbalam- 
chac,  Ahcan-Volcab,  and  Alibuluc-Balam ;  the  first  of  which  is  doubtless  one 
of  those  referred  to.  It  is  also  possible  that  some  of  the  figures  on  this 
group  of  plates  refer  to  others  of  these  four  deities. 

In  the  middle  division  of  this  plate  (II)  is  a  stooping  human  figure, 
with  his  arms  bound  behind  his  back  with  a  cord,  and  a  kind  of  yoke  on 
the  back  of  his  head  The  edge  of  a  machete  is  descending  upon  his  neck 
as  if  to  sever  his  head  from  his  body.  That  this  figure  is  intended  to  show 
that  the  individual  is  about  to  be  slain  can  scarcely  be  doubted,  as  we  see, 

'I  am  aware  that  Ekchuah  Tvas  the  merchant's  patron. 


U.  S.  G.  AND  G.  SURVEY. 


MA  iXUSCRlPT  TROANO  PI.  VIII. 


H 


JA-Mvu^ 


;  .  ^^"^y^H^A^- 


^^^3  ji („  .^.  ■■■...•: 


Fac  Simile  of  Plate  28  of  the  Dkesdex  Coi>ex. 


THOMAS.]  FIGURES  ON  PLATES  III-VII.  95 

by  turning  to  the  middle  division  of  Plate  III,  the  same  person,  although 
still  represented  as  standing,  a  headless  trunk  and  covered  with  blood,  while 
in  close  proximity  is  the  fatal  machete. 

Above  the  bound  figure  we  find  the  character  heretofore  given,  which 
we  have  supposed  may  be  the  symbol  for  01,  or  "heart,"  and,  if  so,  tends 
to  confirm  the  idea  indicated  in  what  has  been  said  concerning  these  figures. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  we  have  here,  undoubtedly,  indications  of  human  sacri- 
fice. The  mode  indicated  may  not  be  exactly  what  we  may  have  been  led 
to  expect  from  what  has  been  stated  by  the  old  authors,  but  this  does  not 
necessarily  prove  our  interpretation  wrong.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  on 
the  third  page  of  the  Dresden  Codex  we  see  human  sacrifice  distinctly 
shown.  Thus  it  appears  that  each  of  these  manuscripts  beai's  the  evidence 
of  this  horrible  custom. 

As  bearing  upon  my  interpretation  of  these  characters,  I  call  attention 
to  the  fact  that  they  are  also  found  on  Plate  3  of  the  Codex,  in  connection 
with  the  figure  delisting  human  sacrifice. 

The  white  left-hand  figure  in  the  third  division  (PI.  Ill),  holding  in  his 
right  hand  the  symbol  of  cu  or  Cauac,  and  in  his  left  a  spear  head,  represents, 

as  I  judge  from  the  markings  and  this  accompanying  chai-acter, 

of  the  gods  of  death  or  underworld. 

Plates  III  to  VII,  taken  together,  appear  to  represent  among  other 
things  a  journey  of  some  kind,  pi'obably  the  journeyings  of  traveling  mer- 
chants or  peddlers.  This  is  indicated  by  the  marks  of  footsteps  and  by  the 
figures  of  individuals  with  staves  in  their  hands  and  packs  on  their  backs, 
which  are  bound  with  cords. 

The  two  individuals  in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  VI  appear  to  be 
in  the  act  'of  producing  fire  by  whirling  a  stick  between  the  hands  with  the 
point  pressed  on  a  piece  of  wood,  as  was  the  custom. 

The  figiire  in  the  lower  division  of  this  plate  is  interesting  chiefly 
on  account  of  the  peculiar  head-dress  of  the  large  central  figure.  This, 
which  is  shown  in  the  annexed  cut  (Fig.  la),  represents  a  couch  or  seat 
in  the  form  of  a  double-headed  animal,  on  which  is  placed  the  head  of 
a  deer.     This  bears  such  a  striking  resemblance    to    the  double-headed 


96 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TROANO. 


couches  or  seats  found  in  the  ruins  of  Yucatan'  as  to  induce  us  to  believe 
that  tliey  liave  the  same  signification  in  both  phices,  or  that  tlie  figure  in 
our  plate  refers  to  that  which  was  represented  in  the  older  sculptures  and 

paintings.  The  peculiarity  in  the  figure 
of  our  plate  is  that  the  personage  seated 
on  the  couch  is  here  symbolized  by  a 
deer's  head,  and  that  on  the  cheek  of  the 
right  head  there  is  one  of  the  death  sym- 
bols. Is  the  deer's  head  here  a  symbol 
of  the  personage  represented  as  seated 
on  the  couch  in  the  sculptured  tablet  of 
the  Palenque  palace,  and  the  Beau  Re- 
lief in  stucco?  We  have  no  means  by 
which  to  determine  this,  but  it  is  my 
opinion  it  is. 

I  sugg-est,  as  a  possible  explanation, 
^'°-  ^■'-  that  this  singular  head-dress  is  a  symbol 

used  to  denote  the  peninsula  of  Yucatan,  or,  rather,  Etel-ceh,  the  name  by 
which  it  was  known  in  ancient  times.  Ce/*,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  Maya 
word  for  "deer."  Etel  signifies  "companion,"  and  EteJd,  from  "hand  to 
hand"  or  "side  to  side."  Hence  it  may  be  intended  as  a  symbol  of  dominion. 
This,  I  am  aware,  is  a  somewhat  visionary  guess,  and  I  give  it  as 
such;  still  it  is  not  impossible  that  it  is  substantially  correct. 

On  the  jaw  of  the  head,  looking  to  the  right,  is  an  imperfect  character, 
which,  from  evidence  found  elsewhere  in  the  Manuscript,  I  am  satisfied  is  a 
variant  of  Cimi. 

We  find  that  the  same  deity  represented  in  the  second  division  of  Plate 
VII  assumes  a  different  form.  The  scene  appears  to  be  an  open,  grassy 
prairie,  leading  us  to  infer  that  here  the  javelin  is  being  hurled  at  game, 
although  none  is  figured. 

In  the  lower  division  of  Plate  VII,  and  extending  into  the  margin  of 
VIII,  is  a  series  of  five  similar  blue  figures,  each  seated  on  a  large  charac- 
ter like  the  one  here  shown. 


'  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  vol.  iv,  pages  'All,  318,  and  329  ;  Stephens's  Yucatan,  vol-  ii,  page  182; 
Waldcck,  plate  xvii ;  Diipaix,  plate  xxvi  (Plate  20,  Kingsbury,  iv). 


THOHAs.)      FIGURES  RELATING  TO  THE  CHASE,  PLATES  \^1I1-XIX.  97 

The  black  numerals  not  obliterated  are  as  follows,  and  in  the  following 
order:  11,  10,  9.  Is  it  not  possible  that  these  signify  Ahauesi  The  head- 
dresses on  three  are  similar  to  that  seen  so  often  tin-oughout 
the  work  on  the  head  of  Tlaloc,  and  which,  I  presume, 
signifies  the  tying  of  the  years.  I  merely  suggest  this  as  a 
possible  explanation,  although  the  order  of  the   numerals 

Fig.  11.  is  not  the  usual  one. 

Plates  VIII  to  XIX  appear,  from  the  figures,  to  relate  to  the  chase. 
VIII-XIII  are  devoted  almost  wholly  to  figures  of  animals  (mostly  deer") 
caught  in  snares.  It  apj^ears  from  these  figures  that  the  method  of  snaring 
animals  was  to  fasten  a  cord  to  the  top  of  a  slender  tree,  bend  it  down,  and 
fasten  a  slip-knot  around  a  spring  or  trigger,  so  that  when  touched  by  the 
fore  foot  of  the  animal  it  would  slip  up  and  tighten,  and  thus  hold  up  the 
fore  part  of  the  body.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  elongate  white 
stems  to  which  the  cords  are  tied  represent  trees  or  wood.  If  the  nodes 
marked  upon  them  were  not  sufficient  to  show  this,  a  study  of  the  similar 
figures  throughout  the  work  would  satisfy  any  one  on  this  point. 

The  curved  figure  at  the  foot  of  the  deer  in  the  second  division  of 
Plate  VIII  probably  represents  a  kind  of  spring  or  trigger  around  which 
the  slip-knot  is  fastened  in  such  a  manner  that  when  touched  above  by 
the  foot  of  the  animal  it  closes  or  bends  together,  so  that  the  knot  slips 
off  it  and  on  to  the  leg.^  I  am  aware  that  this  interpretation  is  widely 
different  from  the  profound  explanation  given  by  Brasseur,  still  I  think  it  is 
as  near  the  correct  one. 

The  animal  represented  in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  IX  is  an  Arma- 
dillo. It  is  evidently  in  a  pit,  into  which  it  has  fallen  through  the  trap 
arranged  for  this  purpose.     We  see  no  cord  here,  as  none  was  needed. 

The  pit  appears  to  have  been  lined  around  the  sides  with  upright 
pieces  of  wood,  to  prevent  the  earth  from  falling  in;  then  two  layers  around 
the  top  of  these,  and  finally  covei-ed  with  a  layer  of  sticks  or  small  beams, 
through  which  a  hole  was  made  in  the  middle,  and  then  pieces  laid  loosely 
on  this,  so  that  the  ends  met  over  the  middle  of  the  opening.     The  animal 

'Heirera  (Dec.  iii,  Bk.  vi,  clap.  3)  says  they  killed  their  game  with  gins  and  snares.    The  Gen- 
tleman of  Elvas  speaks  of  a  method  of  catching  conies  with  snares  similar  to  that  figured  in  the  Manu- 
script (HackluytTransl.  ii,  18:!). 
7  M  T 


98 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  JtANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


passing  over  steps  on  these,  and,  tilting  them,  falls  in.  I  introduce  here  a 
figure  of  this  pitfixll,  an  exact  copy  of  that  on  the  plate.  We  here  see  the 
method  of  joining  the  ends  of  beams  together. 

A  similar  figure,  but  on  a  smaller  scale,  is  given  on  Plate  XXII*.     The 

crosses  on  the  ends  of  the 
beams  are  parts  of  the  char- 
acter so  often  found  on 
wooden  articles.  This  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that 
the  full  character  is  found 
on  the  ends  of  the  cross- 
beams in  the  figure  on  Plate 
XXII*.  The  probable  sig- 
Fu;.  15.— Pitfall  and  annadiiio.  nificatioii  will  be  given  hcrc- 

•after,  in  the  chapter  relating  to  the  wa'itten  characters. 

In  the  third  space  of  this  plate,  and  also  in  the  second  and  third  spaces 
of  Plate  XIII,  there  is  an  outline  figure  of  a  scorpion,  and  in  each  case  the 
claw  at  the  end  of  the  tail  grasps  a  cord  to  which  a  deer,  rabbit,  or  fox  is 
attached.     I  confess  my  inability  to  interpret  these  figures.^ 

In  the  left  portion  of  the  upper  division  of  Plate  X-  is  a  broad  trans- 
verse line  containing  characters  similar  to  those  in  the  line  between  the 
divisions  of  Plates  XX-XXIII.  The  left-hand  character  (of  the  three) 
bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  symbol  of  the  Mexican  day  OlUu,  or 
"Earthquake,"  but  here  possibly  represents  the  Maya  day  Ezanab,  and 
the  middle  one,  Been.  The  character  to  the  right  is  the  "death  symbol," 
or  symbol  of  the  day  Cimi.  The  red  and  blue  scrolls  which  are  attached  to 
and  hang  below  this  line  probably  denote  the  sujDposed  character  of  two 
diff"erent  years  or  days,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  chase.  It  is  a  fact 
worthy  of  notice  that  on  these  six  plates  there  are  just  eighteen  of  these 
captured  animals,  or  one  for  each  month  of  the  year.  We  can  readily 
understand  why  the  festivals  or  religious  observances  denoted  by  these 
figures  and  the  day  and  numeral  characters  are  so  numerous  and  occupy 

'  Sr.  Melgar(C'o»ip.  View,  ^c.)  suggests  that  it  denotes  the  zodiacal  s,\}^n  Scorpio,  and  hence  autumn. 
But  such  a  supposition  would  imply  a  knowledge  of  Oriental  astronomy  not  warranted. 

■^SecFig.  97. 


THE  HUNTERS'  FESTIVAL. 


99 


siicb  a  large  portion  of  the  Manuscript.  The  priests  were  fond  of  the  savory 
venison  hams  which  fell  to  them.  Tn  other  words,  it  was  a  scheme  on  their 
part  to  use  the  religious  fervor  of  the  people  to  supply  their  larders  with 
this  choice  meat. 


Fig.  10. 


100         A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

Plate  XIV — the  middle  and  lower  divisions  of  which  are  reproduced  in 
Fig.  1 IG — I  take  to  be  a  ritual  relating  to  the  hunters'  festivals.  In  the  upper 
division  we  see  two  persons  dressed  as  Chacs,  and  bearing  the  emblems  of 
the  festival  to  the  temple  or  appointed  place.  The  middle  and  lower  divis- 
ions contain  entire  transverse  lines  of  the  same  character  repeated.  If  we 
take  them  in  columns,  instead  of  transversely,  we  will  find  that  they  differ 
from  each  other  only  in  the  top  and  bottom  characters  and  the  numerals. 
As  an  example,  I  refer  to  the  third  column  from  the  left  of  the  middle  divis- 
ion (omitting  from  the  count  the  usual  day  column  at  the  left).  The  chai-- 
acter  at  the  top  is  the  one  already  interpreted  as  signifying  "the  east";  thi-ee 
of  the  other  columns  have  each  one  of  the  cardinal  points,  the  rest  of  the 
characters  being  the  same  in  each  column  and  in  the  same  order  except  the 
numeral  and  the  character  below  it.  The  same  is  true  in  reference  to  the 
lower  division.  As  these  appear  to  designate  mere  repetitions,  either  of 
actions  or  words,  varied  slightly  as  to  direction  or  number,  I  conclude  that, 
taken  together,  they  form  a  ritual  for  the  cei'emonies  that  relate  to  the  chase. 

Plates  XV-XIX  appear  to  represent  tokens  of  hunting  scenes  and  the 
ceremonies  of  the  hunters'  festival.  In  the  upper  division  of  XVII,  XVIII, 
and  XIX  w^e  see  the  hunters  returning  from  the  chase,  some  bearing  their 
game,  others  their  weapons,  and  others  flowers  in  token  of  success. 

On  Plates  XV  and  XVII  we  see  some  of  the  game  left  behind  for  the 
vultures,  which  are  devouring  it.  The  middle  division  of  XVI  and  XVII 
relate  to  the  same  subject ;  the  left  figure  in  the  latter  is  represented  as  being 
bitten  by  a  rattlesnake,  one  of  the  dangers  to  which  they  are  subject  while 
pursuing  their  calling.  The  figures  at  the  right  of  the  upper  division  of  the 
same  plate  represent  a  master  punishing  his  slave  or  follower ;  the  differ- 
ence in  the  belt  anklets  and  dress  showing  the  difference  in  condition. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  these  figures  are  to  a  certain  extent  cabal- 
istic and  also  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  festival  to  represent 
these  incidents  of  the  hunter's  profession. 

The  large  figure  in  the  middle  division  of  Plate  XV  I  presume  repre- 
sents an  idol,  made  for  the  occasion,  in  the  form  of  a  deer.  If  so,  we  see 
here  a  strong  indication  of  phallic  worship. 


nioMAsi  EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  PLATES  XVII-XIX.  101 

In  the  lowest  division  of  Plate  XVII  we  observe  a  woman  j^iercing 
her  tongue  with  a  maguey  leaf,  while  in  front  is  an  incense-burner. 

The  two  figures  in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XIV  are  doubtless  Chaos 
selected  for  the  occasion,  who  are  carrying  to  the  festival  the  implements  of 
the  chase  and  a  sun  image.  The  character  on  which  the  figure  in  the  lower 
left-hand  corner,  middle  division  of  the  same  plate,  is  standing,  is  probably 
a  representation  of  the  trap,  or  rather  trigger,  used  in  snaring  game. 

We  observe  that  the  left-hand  figure  of  the  lower  division  of  Plate 
XVI  is  bearing  in  his  hands  a  Kan  symbol  on  which  is  placed  a  deer's  head. 
We  see  exactl3'  the  same  combination  in  the  fifth  transvei"se  line  of  the  title- 
page — a  deer's  head  on  a  Kan  symbol,  emblems  of  their  chief  means  of 
subsistence,  maize  and  venison. 

The  figures  in  the  middle  division  of  Plate  XVIII  are  evidently  sym- 
bolical, as  the  positions  are  unnatural.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  the  upper 
of  the  two  figures  denotes  a  supposed  phantom,  which,  according  to  the 
superstitions  of  the  Indians,  flew  through  the  air,  destroying  game  as  it 
passed.  This  is  a  mere  supposition  based  wholly  on  the  figures  themselves, 
yet  one  that  I  think  is  warranted. 

The  figure  in  the  lower  division  of  this  plate  (XVIII)  j^robably  repre- 
sents a  priest  clothed  in  animal  skin,  or  an  idol. 

The  black  and  white  figures  in  the  middle  and  lower  division  of  XIX 
are  grinding  paints  to  be  used  in  their  ceremonies.  The  black  is  the  same 
personage  as  the  right-hand  figure  in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  VI  (Chic- 
chac-Chob).  The  white  one  in  the  middle  division  is  a  personage  we  fre- 
quently meet  with  on  the  pages  of  this  work  and  in  reference  to  which  I 
will  have  more  to  say  hereafter.  The  white  figure  in  the  lower  division  is 
certainly  the  same  as  those  on  Plates  XXII  and  XXIII,  which  I  have  de- 
cided represent  Uayeyab  idols.  It  here  no  doubt  signifies  a  priest  dressed  to 
represent  this  idol. 

Plates  XXIV-XXVIII  appear  to  relate  to  one  subject — the  rainy 
season,  or  rains,  storms,  clouds,  &c.  I  think  it  quite  probable  that  pictures 
of  this  kind  seen  by  the  early  writers  on  the  manuscripts  which  they 
inspected,  were  the  ones  they  supposed  related  to  the  great  floods  which 
inundated  that  country. 


102  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TltOANO. 

From  a  careful  study  of  them  I  conclude  they  are  of  general  applica- 
tion, and  refer  simply  to  the  storms,  clouds,  &c.,  of  the  rainy  season  of  the 
year,  and  not  to  any  particular  event. 

As  each  of  these  plates  is  complete  in  itself,  there  is  nothing  in  them, 
except  the  subject  treated  of,  to  indicate  the  order  in  which  they  are  to  be 
taken ;  but  this  is  too  uncertain  a  guide  for  us  to  base  any  confident  opinion 
upon.  All  I  can  say  on  this  point  with  confidence  is  that  XXIV  and  XXV 
appear  to  relate  to  severe  and  destructive  storms,  and  XXVI  and  XXVII 
to  beneficial  and  fertilizing  rains.  The  figures  in  tlie  lower  division  of  the 
first  two  I  think  indicate  the  formation  or  commencement  of  the  storm. 
We  see  in  both  a  young  or  small  serpent,  which,  I  think,  is  here  the  symbol 
of  a  cloud.  That  on  Plate  XXV  is  a  rattlesnake,  indicating  its  deadly 
character,  as  does  also  the  death  symbol  near  by.  The  apron  of  the  great, 
robust  female  is  cross-hatched — which  here  may  signify  Zih,  "origin"  or 
"birth" — and  denote  that  the  serpent,  which  is  issuing  from  behind  it,  is  in 
process  of  birth.  The  character  held  in  the  right  hand  is  Ik,  "breath," 
"wind,"  or  "spirit";  the  blue  lines  from  the  mouth,  which  strike  against 
the  falling  figure  with  the  dead  eye,  denote  the  fierce  storm  on  its  errand 
of  destruction  and  death. 

The  beam  shooting  out  from  the  eye  may  possibly  denote  lightning, 
though  in  the  similar  figure  on  Plate  XXVII  this  appears  to  be  indicated 
by  the  red  dots  in  the  bound  serpent  on  the  head.  The  intention  appears 
to  have  been  to  indicate  the  Maya  equivalent  of  the  Mexican  female  deity, 
Ghalchihuitlicue.  This  deitj^,  according  to  Sahagun,  was  the  sister  of  the 
Tlalocs.  "She  was  honored  because  she  had  power  over  the  watei's  of  the 
sea  and  of  the  rivers  to  drown  those  that  went  down  to  them,  to  raise  tem- 
pests and  whirlwinds,  and  to  cause  boats  to  founder.  They  worshiped  lier, 
all  those  that  dealt  in  water,  that  went  about  selling  it  from  canoes  or 
peddled  jars  of  it  In  the  market.  They  represented  this  goddess  as  a 
woman,  painted  her  fixce  yellow,  save  the  forehead,  which  was  often  blue, 
and  hung  round  her  neck  a  collar  of  precious  stones,  from  which  depended 
a  medal  of  gold.  On  her  head  was  a  crown  of  light-blue  paper,  with 
plumes  of  green  feathers  and  tassels  that  fell  to  the  nape  of  her  neck.  Her 
earrings  were  of  turquiose,  wrought  in  mosaic.     Her  clothing  was  a  shirt 


THOMAS]  THE  RAIN  GODDESS.  103 

or  upper  body  garment,  clear  blue  petticoats,  with  fringes,  from  which  hung 
marine  shells,  and  white  sandals.  In  her  left  hand  she  held  a  shield  and  a 
leaf  of  the  broad,  round,  white  water-lily,  called  atlacue^ona."'- 

Clavigero  makes  the  following  statement  in  regard  to  this  goddess: 
'^  Chalchiucueje,  otherwise  Chalchihuitlicue,  was  the  goddess  of  water  and 
companion  of  Tlaloc.  She  was  known  by  some  other  very  expressive 
names,  which  either  signify  the  effects  which  water  produces,  or  the  different 
appearances  and  color  which  it  assumes  in  motion.  The  Tlascalans  called 
her  Matlacueje,  that  is,  clothed  in  a  green  robe;  and  they  gave  the  same 
name  to  the  highest  mountain  of  Tlascala,  on  whose  sununit  are  formed  those 
stormy  clouds  which  generally  burst  over  the  city  of  Angelopoli.  To  that 
summit  the  Tlascalans  ascended  to  perform  their  sacrifices  and  offer  up  their 
prayers.  This  is  the  very  same  goddess  of  water  to  which  Torouemada 
gives  the  name  XocJdquetsal,  and  the  Cav.  Boturini  that  of  Macuilrochiqiiet- 

The  interpreter  of  the  Codex  Telleriano-Remensis  says:  " Chalchiutli, 
who  presided  over  these  thirteen  days,  saved  herself  in  the  deluge.  She  is  the 
Avoman  who  remained  after  the  deluge.  Her  name  signifies,  'The  woman 
who  wears  a  dress  adorned  with  precious  stones '  Thej^  here  fasted  four 
days  to  Death.  They  painted  her  holding  in  one  hand  a  spinning-wheel 
and  in  the  other  a  certain  wooden  instrument  with  which  they  weave;  and 
in  order  to  show  that  of  the  sons  which  women  bring  forth,  some  are  slaves 
and  others  die  in  war,  and  others  in  poverty,  they  paint  her  with  a  stream, 
as  if  carrying  them  away,  so  that,  whether  rich  or  poor,  all  were  finally 
doomed  to  perish."^ 

We  may  therefore,  I  think,  safely  assume  that  the  figure  in  our  plate 
is  intended  to  represent  the  Central  American  or  Yucatec  goddess  Xnuc, 
who  appears  to  be  an  equivalent  for  the  Mexican  female  deity  described, 
and  that  here,  at  least,  she  is  but  a  syoibol  of  the  mountain  range  where  the 
storms  were  formed,  and  from  whence  they  rushed  down  into  the  valleys 
and  plains  below.  Whether  the  large  figure  in  the  lower  division  of  Plate 
XXVII  is  intended  to  represent  the  same  deity  is  somewhat  uncertain,  but 

'Bancroft's  Native  Eaces,  Vol.  iii,  p.  368. 
'History  of  Mexico,  Vol.  i,  p.  252,  Cullen's  Trans. 

■■'Kingsborougli's  Mex.  Autiq.,  vi,  p.  120. 


104  .A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

jiulging  Ij}^  the  blue  hair,  blue  ear-circle,  the  bound  serpent  on  tlie  head, 
and  the  similarity  in  the  form  of  the  mouth,  anklets,  and  wristlets,  I  am 
disposed  to  believe  it  is,  notwithstanding  the  material  differences  in  other 
respects.  The  mouth  of  the  latter,  the  peculiar  form  of  which  is  more  dis- 
tinctly shown  than  in  the  former,  reminds  us  very  strongly  of  that  of  the 
symbol  of  the  Mexican  d&y  Ehecatl,  "wind,"  as  given  in  the  various  Codices. 
I  am  disposed  to  think  that  the  figure  in  Plate  XXV  represents  her  as  the 
storm-brewing  goddess,  while  that  in  Plate  XXVII  shows  her  as  the  giver 
of  beneficial  and  fructifying  rains.  In  the  former  the  eye  simply  shows 
the  lightning  flash,  while  in  the  latter  it  is  surrounded  by  the  curved  Tlaloc 
sign,  or  what  is  supposed  to  be  the  sign  of  the  Tlaloc  eye,  though  certainly 
not  limited  to  this  deity. 

The  figure  in  the  lower  division  of  Plate  XXIV  is  evidently  intended 
to  express  the  same  idea  as  that  in  the  lower  division  of  XXV;  but  I  am  at 
a  loss  to  decide  what  deity  is  denoted.  A  god  with  four  hands,  as  here 
shown,  is  an  anomaly  in  Mexican  and  Central  American  mythology.  I 
have  failed  to  find  any  such  represented  in  the  Codices,  though  I  have 
looked  through  them  somewhat  carefully  for  this  purpose.  Nor  have  I 
found  any  mention  of  such  an  one  in  any  of  the  Avorks  I  have  at  hand. 

Prof.  Edward  S.  Holden  thinks  he  sees  four  hands  to  the  figure  on  the 
Leyden  Stone,  but  I  must  confess  I  have  been  unable  to  find  more  than 
two  which  appear  to  belong  to  the  principal  personage.  He  is  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  figure  on  our  plate  is  intended  to  represent  the  Mexican  god  of 
war,  Huitzilopochtli}  It  is  possible  that  this  surmise  is  correct,  as  it  agrees 
in  several  important  respects  with  the  dark  figure  in  the  upper  division  of 
Plate  XXV,  which  I  think  beyond  doubt  represents  this  deit}'. 

As  the  reader  will  find  the  characteristics  and  symbols,  and  also  a  very 
reasonable  and  probably  correct  interpretation  of  these  given  at  length  by 
Bancroft  in  his  'Native  Races,  I  will  omit  the  mention  of  them  here.  I  only 
add  that  here  we  see  the  feathers,  the  shield,  the  snake  belt,  the  arrows  and 
spear,  and  everything,  even  to  the  attitude,  that  betokens  a  warlike  deity. 
The  accompanying  serpent,  which  here  clearly  denotes  a  cloud,  is  not 
wanting;  the  rain  pours  down  in  fearful  torrents,  and  on  each  side  is  the 

'"Stuiliesof  American  Picture  Writiug";  in  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology. 


TuoMAs.i        EXPLANATION  OP  FIGURES  ON  PLATES  XXIV-XXVII.  105 

death  symbol.  This  god  we  know  was  a  companion  of,  or,  rather,  accom- 
panied by,  Tlaloc,  whose  figure  we  see  by  turning  to  the  adjoining  Plate 
XXIV.  Bat  here,  instead  of  being  in  his  favorite  blue,  we  see  him  clothed 
in  black  and  bearing  on  his  arm  the  shield  that  forms  one  of  the  tokens  of 
the  war  god.  On  this  we  see  the  symbol  for  Ik,  "breath"  or  "wind," 
twice  given,  betokening  the  storm  and  the  whirlwind.  In  his  right  hand 
the  spear-hurler,  or,  as  here  used,  the  lightning  symbol,  while  in  front  of 
him  is  the  Uayeyab  idol  or  figure  representing  the  year,  upon  whose  head 
the  torrents  are  descending,  and  upon  whom  the  angry  Tlaloc  appears  to  be 
venting  his  wrath.  If  a  supposition,  hereafter  more  fully  explained,  that 
this  figure  represents  Zamna,  or  corn,  prove  correct,  the  signification  of 
what  is  here  shown  is  at  once  clear. 

Above  the  head  of  the  god,  sailing  through  the  air,  is  a  batrachian,  or 
frog-like  animal,  a  symbol  of  abundant  water. 

The  large  character  in  the  middle,  which  has  the  inner  space  blank, 
was  doubtless  intentionally  left  so.  I  am  unable  to  guess  its  meaning, 
unless  it  be  a  time  symbol  of  some  kind.  The  transverse  line  of  partially 
obliterated  characters  at  the  top  are  similar  to  those  found  in  the  middle 
transverse  line  on  Plates  XX-XXIII,  which  probably  have  the  same  signifi- 
cation here  as  there.  ^ 

As  before  remarked.  Plates  XXVI  and  XXVII  appear  to  belong 
together,  and  to  refer  to  the  milder  and  beneficial  rains. 

In  the  upper  division  of  the  former  we  see  Tlaloc,  accompanied  by  his 
four  Chacs,  the  latter  without  any  marks  of  distinction,  as  here  the  inten- 
tion appears  to  be  to  represent  them  as  rain-givei's  only.  The  former  is 
shown  here  in  liis  usual  blue  color,  but  the  scorpion-like  caudal  appendage 
is  uncommon,  and,  taken  in  connection  with  the  plate  on  the  loins  to  which 
it  is  attached,  is,  as  I  believe,  a  time  symbol  of  some  kind.  We  notice 
that  the  claw  at  the  tip  appears  to  clasp  the  single  red  numeral  character 
surrounded  by  dots.  In  this  space  we  also  observe  the  symbols  of  the 
four  cardinal  points,  one  by  each  Chac.^ 

'I  have  been  in  considerable  doubt  as  to  whether  these  minor  deities  are  Chacs  or  Bacabs,  as 
there  appears  to  be  much  confusion  in  the  writings  of  the  old  authors  iu  reference  to  them;  but  have 
decided  to  apply  the  name  Chacs  to  those  which  appear  to  be  related  to  the  raiu  gods.  I  think  it  proba- 
ble that  the  two  terms  apply  to  the  same  deities. 


106  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

The  figures  in  the  lower  division  of"  this  ph^te,  I  tliink,  are  easily  inter- 
pi-eted.  Here  is  the  cloud,  or  moisture,  represented  in  the  form  of  a  serpent, 
with  a  Tlaloc  head  to  denote  its  beneficial  and  fertilizing  influence.  Tlaloc, 
wlio  has  been  riding  upon  it,  now  starts  upon  bis  descent  to  earth,  bearing 
upon  his  back  the  symbol  of  abundance  of  food — a  vase  filled  with  corn 
and  a  vine  loaded  with  fruit. 

I  am  aware  that  I  have  heretofore  referred  to  the  serpent  as  a  symbol 
of  time,  but  this  diversit}'  in  the  application  of  this  symbol  has  been  recog- 
nized l)y  others.  Bancroft,  after  a  thorough  consultation  of  the  numerous 
authorities  in  his  extensive  library,  remarks,  in  speaking  of  the  attributes 
of  the  Mexican  god  Huitzilopoctli:  "Huitzilopoctli  is  also  a  snake  god. 
*  4t  *  *  jf  j-]jg  snake  signifies  in  one  case  time,  in  another  world,  and 
in  another  instance  water,  or  the  yearly  rejuvenation  of  germs  and  blos- 
soms, the  eternal  circle  of  nature,  divination,  soothsaying,  it  is  quite  proper, 
for  all  these  qualities  are  found  united  in  the  god." 

The  figures  in  the  upper  division  of  XXVII  are  very  similai-  in  char- 
acter and  signification  to  those  just  described.  Here  is  the  snake  cloud 
floatinj?  alonor  the  crimson  underlining  indicatino^  either  the  lig'htnino-  or 
the  effect  of  the  setting  sun.  On  the  head  stands  TlaloC,  while  he  pours 
out  the  rain  from  the  inverted  vase  in  his  hands.  On  another  part  stands  a 
goddess,  possibly  Ixmol,  also  pouring  the  refreshing  rain  on  the  parched 
earth. 

The  central  figure  in  the  lower  division  of  this  plate  has  already  been 
alluded  to  and  the  conclusion  reached  that  it  is  the  female  deity  Xnuc,  the 
mountain,  or  mountain  range,  from  Avhich  the  rains  of  that  region  mostly 
come.  The  chief  parts  of  the  figures  in  this  division  may  be  thus  explained: 
The  blue  lines,  the  rain  flowing  out  from  the  skirts  and  down  the  sides; 
the  serpent,  the  embryo  cloud  on  the  summit,  through  whicli  the  lightning, 
represented  by  the  red  dots,  is  playing.  Here  we  see  the  four  Chaos,  with 
their  distinguishing  marks  upon  them ;  also  Tlaloc,  with  a  singular  head- 
dress. 

From  a  careful  study  of  these  four  plates  I  conclude  that  XXV  pre- 
cedes XXIV,  and  that  XXVII  precedes  XXVI,  in  other  words,  should  pro- 
ceed to  the  left  in  the  order  paged. 


TuoMAB]  EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  PLATE  XXVIII.  107 

Plate  XXVIII  appears  to  relate  somewliat  to  the  same  general  subject 
as  the  preceding  group  just  described,  but  is  not  so  directly  connected  with 
them  as  they  are  with  each  other.  It  seems,  in  fact,  to  belong  between  this 
group  and  the  one  which  follows  (in  the  order  of  the  paging),  and  appar- 
ently precedes  the  former. 

The  chief  objects  of  interest  on  this  plate  are  the  figures  in  the  second 
and  lower  division.  The  larger  figures  either  represent  two  deities  closely 
allied  and  belonging  to  the  same  class,  or  are  symbolic.  As  they  are 
frequently  met  with  throughout  the  Manuscript  I  presume  they  are  recog- 
nized deities.  In  this  place  I  think  they  represent  the  earth  or  soil, 
which,  parched  and  dry  in  consequence  of  a  severe  drought,  are  here 
represented  as  looking  up  toward  the  heavens,  as  if  supplicating  rain  upon 
the  planted  and  sprouting  maize,  the  emblems  of  which  they  bear  in  their 
hands.  As  will  be  noticed  elsewhere,  there  are  very  strong  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  lower  figui-e,  and  probably  both,  represent  gods  of  death, 
or  that  they  are  symbols  of  death.  This  agrees  very  well  with  the  explana- 
tion I  have  suggested.  The  lower  figure  has  in  one  hand  the  bread  symbol, 
in  the  other  that  of  sprouting  corn.  In  the  hands  of  that  of  the  second 
division  are  smaller  figures,  bearing  Kan  characters,  here  doubtless  used  as 
corn  symbols. 

These  smaller  figures  with  the  two-colored  face,  which  will  be  found 
frequently  introduced  on  the  next  five  plates,  certainly  represent  something 
of  the  utmost  importance  in,  or  bearing  a  close  relation  to,  Maya  agriculture. 

Without  stopping  just  here  to  give  my  reasons  for  the  belief,  I  venture 
the  opinion  that  they  are  here  given  a.s  figures  of  the  deity  Zamna,  or 
Itsmnna,  but  with  the — as  I  presume  generally  understood — idea,  or  belief, 
that  Itzamna  and  maize  were  equivalents,  or  so  closely  related,  that  to  figure 
this  deity  in  connection  with  agricultural  subjects  was  equivalent  to  figuring 
maize,  or  possibly  seed  in  a  broader  sense. 

The  blue,  serpent-like  figure  with  purple  margin  in  the  third  division 
of  this  plate  (XXVIII)  is  possibly  intended  as  the  symbol  of  a  floating 
cloud.  The  chac  in  front,  Tlaloc  resting  quietly  on  one  of  the  curves,  the 
blue  color  and  purple  lining  all  correspond  with  this  idea.     But  the  Zamna 


108  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

figures  and  vegetable  sprouts  upon  it  do  not  agree  with  this  interpretation. 
Still  I  believe  it  to  be  the  idea  intended. 

Plates  XXIX-XXXIII  appear  to  relate  entirely  to  agricultural  pur- 
uits,  especially  to  the  cultivation  of  maize,  cacao,  some  vine,  and  possibly, 
cotton. 

In  this  connection  I  would  call  special  attention  to  the  first  (top)  and 
second  divisions  of  Plates  XXX  and  XXXI,  and  the  two  Tlaloc  figures  in 
the  lower  division  of  XXXIIl  In  these  we  undoubtedly  have  the  planting 
of  seed,  most  likely  corn,  represented.  The  number  of  grains  deposited  in 
a  place  appears  usually  to  be  five,  but  occasionally  six  seem  to  be  dropped. 
The  opening  or  hole  in  the  soil  is  made  with  a  pointed  Avooden  stick,  always 
more  or  less  bent  or  curved  in  the  figures.  According  to  Landa  the  custom 
of  the  native  farmers  was  to  make  holes  at  regular  intervals,  and  in  each 
deposit  "five  or  six  grains"  of  maize.  The  number  appears  to  be  indicated 
in  the  plates,  not  only  by  the  figures  of  balls  dropped,  but  also  by  the  spread 
fingers  with  knobs  at  the  tips,  showing  that  five  was  the  established  number. 
As  further  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  this  interpretation,  the  individuals 
represented  on  Plates  XXX  and  XXXI,  as  engaged  in  this  work,  have  their 
heads  covered  with  a  kind  of  matting  or  straw  hat,  indicating  that  they  are 
in  I  he  sun,  where  the  head  needs  protection.  The  character  in  this  head- 
gear, as  will  hereafter  be  shown,  probably  signifies  jjjf^oc,  "a  hat"  or  "head- 
covering." 

The  similar  operation  represented  in  the  lower  division  of  Plate 
XXXIIl,  where  Tlaloc,  or  a  priest  attired  as  this  deity,  is  the  planter, 
probably  refers  to  the  seed  of  some  other  plant,  possibly  the  gourd  or  bean, 
or  the  leguminous  plant  figured  in  the  second  division  of  the  same  plate. 

As  I  have  expressed  a  belief  that  the  figures  with  a  two-colored  face 
are  given  to  represent  Zamna,  or  Itzannia,  one  of  the  chief  Maya  deities 
or  culture  heroes,  I  will  give  here  in  part  ray  reasons  for  this  opinion. 

First.  As  has  been  heretofore  intimated,  and  as  will  hereafter  be  more 
fully  shown,  the  Imix  and  Kan  symbols  are  undoubtedly  often  used  to 
denote  bread  and  maize,  and  the  word,  or  name,  Itzamna  has  as  its  primary 
signification  seed  from  which  plants  issue,  the  chief  reference  being  to 
maize. 


THOMAS]  THE  ZAMNA  FIGURES.  109 

Second.  In  the  plates  now  vinder  consideration  tlie  figures  with  the 
two-colored  face  appear  to  have  some  intimate  relation  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. 

Third  The  Kan  symbols  and  these  figures  are  both  represented  as 
being  attacked  by  quadrupeds,  birds,  and  worms. 

For  example,  on  Plate  XXIX,  left-hand  figure  of  the  second  division, 
we  see  a  bird  picking  up  the  planted  seed  before  it  has  sprouted;  in  the 
rjext  figure  to  the  right,  same  division,  we  see  a  small  fox-like  quadruped 
seizing  it  after  it  has  sprouted;  in  the  third  division,  same  plate,  and  lower 
divisions  of  Plates  XXX,  XXXI,  XXXII,  and  XXXIII,  we  see  quadrupeds, 
birds,  and  worms  attacking  these  supposed  Zamna  figures.-'  In  the  latter 
cases  the  intention  was  probably  to  signify  that  the  plant  was  attacked  by 
these  enemies.  The  figure  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner  of  Plate  XXX 
shows  three  worms  at  different  heights,  probably  signifying  that  the  root, 
foliage,  and  fruit  were  attacked.  The  symbol  ca  in  the  eye  of  this  figure 
may  be  considered  a  symbol  of  the  cultivated  calabash,  though  it  is  proba- 
bly intended  to  signify  that  the  plant  (which  I  take  to  be  a  maize  symbol) 
is  dead,  having  been  killed  by  the  attacks  of  these  insect  foes. 

I  am  aware  that  the  explanations  here  given  may  be  considered  as 
somewhat  overstrained,  yet  I  am  convinced  that  a  close  and  careful  study 
of.  these  figures  and  all  that  can  be  found  relating  to  them  will  end  in 
leading  others  to  the  same  conclusion.  I  ma}^  also  add  that  the  difference 
in  the  plants  or  varieties  represented  by  these  figures  (if  such  be  their 
signification)  is  shown  by  the  eye  and  the  marks  on  the  head-dress,  which 
here  appear  to  refer  to  foliage.  Possibly  these  differences  have  reference 
only  to  the  different  kinds  of  corn,  but  this  I  think  is  indicated  by  the 
color.     See,  for  example,  Plate  XXX,  third  division,  the  yellow  and  white. 

The  peculiar  birds  in  the  third  divisions  of  Plates  XXX  and  XXXI 
may  have  reference  to  certain  auguries;  otherwise  I  can  give  no  guess  as 
to  their  meaning. 

The  next  to  the  right-hand  figure  of  the  third  division,  Plate  XXIX, 
probably  represents  some  such  plant  as  maguey,  or  yucca. 

The  lower  left-hand  figure  of  Plate  XXXI  I  think  simply  represents 

'  The  reader  is  referred  to  the  quotation  from  Landa  iu  reference  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  Cauac  year 
(page  (>C). 


110  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEirT  TEOANO. 

the  act  of  watering-  the  parched  and  dj'ing  maize  plants.  Tlie  Kan  char- 
acter here  bears  a  spi'out,  or  plant,  which  appears  to  be  drooping  and  dying. 
Although  the  figure  holding  the  jar  is  Tlaloc,  I  think  this  represents  artificial 
watering,  and  not  rain. 

Plates  XXXII  and  XXXIII  appear  to  relate  principally  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  cacao,  cotton,  and  some  climbing  plant,  and  to  severe  drought. 

The  figures  in  the  upper  division  I  think  relate  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
cacao,  either  to  the  festival  held  specially  by  the  planters,  as  described  by 
Landa,^  the  particular  part  taken  by  them  in  the  festival  held  to  induce  the 
gods  to  give  them  rain,  or  some  incident  in  the  process  of  cultivation. 

Landa,  in  his  description  of  their  special  festival  in  the  month  Muan, 
states  that  "they  gave  to  each  of  the  officers  a  branch  with  the  fruit  of  the 
cacao."  This  is  doubtless  represented  by  the  figures  holding  branches  in 
their  hands. 

The  figures  in  the  second  division  of  these  two  plates  represent  two 
different  jilfi-nts — one  evidently  a  vine  supjiorted  by  a  stake,  just  as  grape 
vines  are  now  supported,  on  which  hang  what  appear  to  be  pods,  possibly 
beans  of  som«  kind.  The  other  plant  has  a  fruit  represented  by  a  little 
circle  surrounded  by  a  ring  of  dots,  possibly  cotton. 

In  the  third  division  of  these  plates  there  are  figures  of  fox-like  ani- 
mals bearing  torches  and  leaping  over  a  sleeping  Zamna  figure  and  an 
incense-burner.  In  the  place  of  the  eye  is  a  character  resembling  that  for 
C  or  Chiien.  It  is  possible  that  it  here  stands  for  the  Maya  word  chocou, 
"hot,"  or  chocoiial,  "heat,"  and  that  the  animal  with  the  torches  is  a  symbol 
of  the  scorching,  burning  heat  of  the  sun.-  This  idea  agrees  very  well 
with  what  we  see  in  the  division  above  (second).  The  figures  here  appear 
to  represent  cultivated  vines,  which  are  parched  and  dying  from  the  effect 
of  heat  and  drought.  The  Tlaloc  head  at  the  foot  of  one  of  these  shows 
that  they  are  also  to  some  extent  symbolic. 

The  third  and  fourth  divisions  of  Plates  XXXIV  and  XXXV  evidently 
relate  to  painting  the  vessels,  &c.,  alluded  to  by  Landa,  where  he  says  that 

'  See  Appendix  No.  3. 

-I  call  attention  here  to  Landa's  statcmeut,  heretofore  quoted,  in  reference  to  the  calamities  to 
1)0  expected  in  the  Ix  years,  especially  severe  droughts.  Also  to  the  fact  that  an  image  of  Zamna  is 
introduced  in  the  festival. 


THOMAS]  THE  TITLE  PAGE.  .111 

' '  during  this  month  (  Yaxkin)  they  commenced  to  pi'epare  themselves,  accord- 
ing to  custom,  for  a  general  festival  vs^hich  was  celebrated  in  Mol,  on  a  day 
which  the  priest  designated,  in  honor  of  ail  tlie  gods.  They  called  it  Oloh- 
sah-kam-yax.  After  the  ceremonies  and  usual  incensing  which  they  wished 
to  do,  they  smeared  with  their  blue  paint  the  instruments  of  all  the  pro- 
fessions from  those  the  priest  used,  even  to  their  wives'  spindle  and  the 
doors  of  their  liouses."  Here  we  see  the  priests  dressed  up  to  represent 
certain  deities,  with  paint-pot  in  one  hand  and  sti'ip  of  yucca  or  maguey  leaf 
in  the  other,  applying  the  blue  paint  to  their  vessels  (see  Fig  25). 

The  following  statement,  by  Col.  James  Stevenson,  regarding  the 
method  in  use  among  the  Zuni  Jndians  in  making  and  applying  paints  to 
their  pottery,  will  illustrate  this:  "When  the  pigment  is  properly  reduced 
and  mixed  with  water  so  as  to  form  a  thin  solution,  it  is  applied  with  brushes 
made  of  the  leaves  of  the  yucca.  These  brushes  are  made  of  flat  pieces  of 
the  leaf,  which  are  stripped  off  and  bruised  at  one  end,  and  are  of  different 
sizes  adapted  to  the  coarse  or  fine  lines  the  artist  may  wish  to  draw.  In 
this  manner  all  the  fine  line's  on  the  pottery  are  produced." 

The  figures  in  the  upper  division  of  these  two  plates  perhaps  represent 
priests  with  calendar  wheels,  determining  the  time  at  which  the  coming  fes- 
tival shall  be  held. 

Those  in  the  second  division  of  Plate  XXXV  are  probably  in  the  act, 
of  preparing  the  paint. 

PART    SECOND    OF    THE    MANUSCRIPT. 

The  title-page. — Although  this  is  occupied  almost  wholly  by  characters, 
1  think  it  is  best  to  discuss  its  general  import  in  this  connection. 

One  of  the  fii'St  things  that  strikes  us  as  somewhat  singular,  and  as 
having  some  hidden  meaning,  is  the  fact  that  there  are  ten  transverse  lines 
(the  numerals  are  not  considered  separately  from  the  characters  to  which 
they  belong)  and  seven  characters  or  groups  of  cliaracters  in  each  line, 
making  seventy  in  all — exactly  the  number  of  plates  in  the  Manuscript. 
This  arrangement  by  sevens  cannot  be  accidental,  and  must  therefore  liave 
had  some  particular  meaning  understood  by  the  author  and  those  for  whose 
use  the  work  was  composed.     That  it  does  not  refer  to  any  of  their  divis- 


\ 


112  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

ions  of  time  I  think  is  clear  from  wliat  has  been  shown  concerning  their 
calendar.  When  I  first  noticed  this  arrangement  I  was  of  the  opinion  that 
it  indicated  the  number  of  different  subjects  treated  of  in  tlie  manuscript, 
and  that  the  page  should  be  considered  in  columns.  But  subsequent  study 
has  led  me  to  doubt  the  correctness  of  the  first  part  of  this  theory. 

We  observe  that  the  first  (top)  line  consists  of  seven  day  characters  as 
follows  (counting  from  left  to  right  as  numbered) : .  Ymix,  Ik,  Akbal,  Kan, 
Chicchan,  Cimi,  and  Manik.  Two  are  obliterated,  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  missing  ones  are  Kan  and  Chicchan,  a  conclusion  I  had 
reached  before  I  had  seen  Rosny's  work  or  Dr.  Brinton's  article.  Brasseur 
supplied  the  fourth  space  with  Ahau  and  the  fifth  with  Kan. 

In  this  connection  I  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  on  the  left-hand  slab 
of  the  Palanque  Tablet  there  are  just  seven  double  characters  under  the 
large  initiatory  hieroglyph.  Omitting  the  four  characters  by  the  upright  of 
the  cross,  the  number  of  columns  is  an  exact  multiple  of  seven,  whether 
we  omit  or  include  the  single  ones  in  the  transverse  lines  above  the  heads  of 
the  priests. 

Counting  the  large  initiatory  character  as  four — as  it  covers  four  spaces — 
aryi  each  double  one  as  two,  there  are  245  characters  on  the  entire  tablet — 
an  exact  multiple  of  seven.  It  may  be  worthy  of  notice  also  that  there  are 
^ust  seven  characters  in  and  immediately  around  the  cross  (included  in  the 
above  calculation),  viz,  two  on  the  upright,  omitted  in  Dr.  Rau's  scheme; 
two  each  side,  and  one  immediately  to  the  left  of  the  lower  end  of  the  an-ow 
shaft  (also  omitted  in  Dr.  Rau's  plan):  that  there  are  17  (z=10  +  7)  charac- 
ters in  each  column  of  the  outer  slabs. 

This  may  be  accidental,  and,  as  a  rule,  but  little  confidence  should  be 
placed  in  such  calculations;  but  this,  taken  in  connection  with  what  we  find 
in  this  line  in  the  Manuscript,  is  sufficient  to  lead  us  to  believe  that  this 
septenary  arrangement  is  not  accidental,  but  intentional,  and  has  some  spe- 
cific, hidden  meaning. 

The  tablet  on  the  inner  wall  of  Casa  No.  1  (Stephen's  Cent.  Am.,  II, 
343)  has  on  it  fourteen  columns,  each  with  ten  characters,  making  140  in 
all;  but  those  on  the  outer  corridor  of  the  same  casa  have  each  twenty  col- 
umns of  twelve  chai-acters.     The  tablet  of  Casa  No.  3,  which  appears  to  be 


THOMAS)  THE  SEPTENARY  ARRANGEMENT.  113 

closely  related  to  the  Tablet  of  the  Cross,  presents  no  such  septenary 
arrangement,  yet  even  here  there  are  (counting  long  and  short)  seventeen 
columns,  and  in  the  extreme  right  and  left  columns  just  seventeen  charac- 
ters. I  find  this  arrangement  by  sevens  frequently  in  the  Mexican  Codices, 
but  in  most  of  these  cases  it  is  apparent  that  this  results  from  the  division 
of  13,  as  a  corresponding  arrangement  by  sixes  accompanies,  or  is  to  be 
understood. 

Returning  to  our  plate,  we  may,  as  I  think,  make  use  of  this  septenary 
characteristic  in  determining  some  of  the  numerals  that  are  partially  oblit- 
erated. The  red  are  sufficiently  distinct  except  the  missing  ones  in  the 
upper  line,  in  reference  to  which  there  is  no  question  of  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  students  of  this  work;  and  the  right-hand  one  of  the  line  next  to  the 
bottom — the  only  question  here  being  whether  this  is  18  or  19.  Adding 
together  all  the  numbers  indicated  by  these  red  numeral  characters  (includ- 
ing the  seven  in  the  upper  line),  we  find  the  sum  to  be  153,  if  we  count  the 
right-hand  one  of  the  9t1i  line  18,  or  154  if  we  count  it  19.  As  the  latter 
number  (164)  is  an  exact  multi|)le  of  seven,  Ave  conclude  that  this  character 
is  19,  and  this  agrees  with  the  eroded  space  and  the  position  of  the  dots 
over  the  remaining  poi'tion. 

This  septenary  arrangement  does  not  appear  to  hold  good  with  the 
black  numerals. 

Returning  to  the  first  or  top  line  we  observe,  as  before  remarked,  that 
it  commences  with  Ymix  According  to  Landa  the  Mayas  began  the  com- 
putation of  their  days,  that  is,  their  calendar,  with  one  Ymix.  We  quote 
his  language  here,  as  it  is  somewhat  singular: 

"It  is  curious  to  note  how  the  dominical  letter  [of  the  year]  always 
comes  up  at  the  beginning  of  its  year,  without  mistake  or  failing,  and  that 
none  of  the  other  twenty  letters  appears.  They,  also  used  this  method  of 
counting  in  order  to  derive  from  certain  letters  a  method  of  counting  their 
epochs  and  other  things,  which,  though  interesting  to  them,  does  not  con- 
cern us  much  here.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  character  or  letter  with 
which  they  begin  their  computation  of  the  days  or  their  calendar  is  called 

one   Ymix,  which  is  this   {    "    j  >  which  has  no  certain  or  fixed  day  on 

8   M   T 


114  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

which  it  falls.  Because  each  one  changes  its  position  according  to  his  own 
count;  yet,  for  all  that,  the  dominical  letter  of  the  year  which  follows  does 
not  fail  to  come  up  correctly."' 

It  appears  that  the  Chiapenec,  Tzendal,  Soconuscan,  Quiche,  and  Cak- 
chiquel  calendars  began  the  list  of  da)^s  with  Imox,  following  it  with  Ik  or 
Igh.  This  fact  indicates  a  common  origin  of  the  calendars  and  of  the  people. 
It  also  renders  the  statement  of  some  of  the  old  authorities,  that  the  names  of 
the  days  were  taken  from  the  names  of  their  deities  and  heroes,  quite  plausi- 
ble. If  this  be  true,  we  have  possibly  in  the  seven  days  here  given  the 
names  of  the  seven  chief  deities;  and  the  characters  on  the  page  are  to  be 
read  in  columns,  each  column  having  at  the  top  one  of  tlrese  sacred  names. 
The  characters  in  the  second  line  appear  to  accord  with  this  view,  as  the 
first  four,  counting  from  the  left,  are  those  which  I  have  attempted  to  prove 
indicate  the  four  cardinal  points.  As  a  further  examination  of  this  plate 
would  require  me  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  characters  themselves  I 
will  defer  further  notice  until  I  reach  that  subject. 

If  the  figures  furnish  us  with  any  evidence  by  which  to  judge  of  the 
contents,  I  decide  without  any  hesitancy  that  Plates  I*-X*  of  this  part  of 
the  work  relate  to  one  general  subject,  to  wit,  the  work  and  festivals  of  the 
apiarists.  We  may  be  somewhat  surprised  to  find  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
Manuscript  devoted  to  the  festivals  of  this  limited  class,  whose  industry  was 
generally  considered  of  but  minor  importance  except  in  certain  localities. 
But  here  again,  as  I  believe,  we  detect  the  cunning  of  the  priests.  This  was 
a  scheme  to  supplj^  their  board  with  honey.  Moreover,  it  is  quite  probable 
this  Manuscript  pertained  to  a  section  where  the  production  of  honey  was 
an  important  industry. 

The  objection  to  the  theory  that  these  plates  relate  to  these  particular 
festivals  may  be  raised,  that  the  insects  represented  by  the  figures  on  them 
are  not  bees,  but  beetles  (coleopterous  insects). 

'Relacion  de las  cosasde  Yucatan,  p.  236.  Ymiiclio  denotar  saiga siempre la  letras  que  es  domiui- 
cal  en  el  primero  dia  de  su  auo,  sin  crrar  ui  faltar,  ui  veuir  a  salir  otra  de  las  XX  alii.  Unsavan  tambieu 
deste  modo  do  coutar  para  sacar  deslas  lelras  ciwto  modo  de  coutar  para  sacar  destas  letras  cierto  modo 
de  contar  que  tcnian  para  las  edades  y  otras  cosas  quo  aunqne  son  i)ara  ellos  curiosas,  no  nos  Lazeu 
aqni  mucbo  al  proposito;  y  por  esso  se  qutdaran  con  dezir  quo  el  caracter  o  letra  de  que  coinengava  su 
ououta  de  los  (lias  o  kalendario,  se  llama  Hun  Ymix  y  es  este  el  qual  no  tienc  dia  cierlo  ui  seueludo 

enquo  craya.  Porquo  cada  imo  le  muda  la  propia  cuenta  y  contado  esso  no  falta  el  salir  la  letra  qui 
vieue  por  dominical  el  primero  del  auo  que  se  sigue. 


THOMAS  1  THE  BEES  OF  YUCATAN.  115 

The  wings  and  abdomen  are,  it  is  true,  very  macli  like  the  elytra  and 
abdomen  of  beetles,  but  there  are  abundant  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
opinion  I  have  advanced  here,  which  appears  to  have  been  held  by  Abbe 
Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  is  correct. 

First.  We  find  nowhere  any  reason  for  believing  that  beetles  played 
an  important  part  in  the  religious  ceremonies  of  the  natives  of  Yucatan. 

Second.  We  do  know,  from  the  most  satisfactory  evidence,  notwith- 
standing the  assertions  of  some  writers  to  the  contrary,  that  bees  were 
abundant  in  some  sections,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  were 
domesticated  and  reared  for  their  honey;  in  fact,  the  collecting  of  honey 
appears  to  have  been  an  important  industry  in  some  localities.  I  quote  in 
proof  of  this  statement  from  Clavigero,  Vol.  I,  page  68: 

"There  are  at  least  six  different  kinds  of  bees.  The  first  is  the  same 
with  the  common  bee  of  Europe,  with  which  it  agrees,  not  only  in  size, 
shape,  and  color,  but  also  in  its  disposition  and  manners  and  in  the  qualities 
of  its  honey  and  wax.  The  second  species,  which  differs  from  the  first  only 
in  having  no  sting,  is  the  bee  of  Yucatan  and  Chiapa,  which  makes  the 
fine,  clear  honey  of  Estabentun,  of  an  aromatic  flavor,  superior  to  that  of 
all  the  other  kinds  of  honey  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  The  honey  is 
taken  from  them  six  times  a  year;  that  is,  once  in  every  other  month;  but 
the  best  is  that  which  is  got  in  November,  being  made  from  a  fragrant 
white  flower,  like  jessamine,  which  blows  in  Septembei',  called  in  that 
country  Estabentun,  from  which  the  honey  has  derived  its  name. 

"The  third  species  resembles  in  its  form  the  winged  ants,  but  is  smaller 
than  the  common  bee  and  without  a  sting.  This  insect,  which  is  peculiar 
to  warm  and  temperate  climates,  forms  nests  in  size  and  shape  resembling 
sugar-loaves,  and  even  sometimes  greatly  exceeding  these  in  size,  which  are 
suspended  from  rocks  or  from  trees,  and  particularly  from  the  oak.  The 
populousness  of  these  hives  are  much  greater  than  those  of  the  common  bee. 
The  nymphs  of  this  bee,  which  ai-e  eatable,  are  white  and  round,  like  a 
pearl.  The  honey  is  of  a  grayish  color,  but  of  a  fine  flavor.  The  fourth 
species  is  a  yellow  bee,  smaller  than  the  common  one,  but,  like  it,  furnished 
with  a  sting ;  its  honey  is  not  equal  to  those  already  mentioned.  The 
fifth  is  a  small  bee  without  a  sting,  which  constructs  hives  of  an  orbicular 


716  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

form  in  subterraneous  cavities;  and  the  honey  is  sour  and  somewhat  bitter. 
The  TkdpijnoUi,  which  is  the  sixth  species,  is  black  and  yellow,  of  the  size 
of  the  common  bee,  but  has  no  sting." 

He  also  adds,  in  a  foot-note  on  pag-e  G8,  the  following  statement :  "The 
honey  of  Estabentun  is  in  high  estimation  with  the  English  and  French 
who  touch  at  the  ports  of  Yucatan;  and  I  have  known  the  French  of 
Gruarico  buy  it  sometimes  for  the  purpose  of  sending  it  as  a  present  to  the 
king." 

Landa,  in  speaking  of  these  festivals,  makes  particular  mention  of  bee- 
keepers, or  keepers  of  beehives.  * 

Third.  A  careful  study  of  these  plates  of  the  Manuscript  I  think  will 
satisfy  any  one  that  the  bee  is  the  insect  intended,  although  the  figures  are 
inexact. 

Take,  for  example,  the  yellow  figure  in  the  middle  division  of  Plate 
V*.  The  hair  indicates  that  this  is  a  female,  and  the  long  tongue  shows  it 
has  a  sucking  apparatus.^  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  it  is  intended  as 
a  representation  of  the  queen  bee,  or  Aliaulil-cab,  "the  queen  of  bees." 

As  but  few  particulars  in  regard  to  the  festivals  of  the  apiarists  have 
been  recorded  we  have  but  little  to  guide  us  in  an  attempt  to  explain  the 
figures  in  these  plates.  Landa  states  in  reference  to  them  that  "In  the 
month  Tzoz  the  bee-keepers  (or  masters  of  the  hives)  prepare  themselves 
for  the  celebration  of  their  festival  in  Tzec.  *  *  *  *  They  had  for 
their  patrons  the  Bacabs,  especially  Hohnil.  They  made  at  that  time  great 
off'erings,  particularly  to  the  four  Chacs,  to  which  they  presented  four 
plates,  with  pellets  of  incense  in  each  one  and  painted  round  the  border 
with  figures  of  honey  [honeycomb!],  in  order  to  obtain  an  abundance  by 
this  feast."^ 

Some  of  the  figures  appear  to  relate  to  the  operations  and  incidents  of 
the  industry,  as  we  have  seen  is  true  of  those  that  refer  to  hunting  and 
the  hunters'  festivals.  We  see  here  what  appear  to  be  their  hives,  either 
artificial — made  for  domesticated  bees — or  those  cut  from  the  tree  contain- 
ing the  honey  of  the  wild  bees.  Notice,  for  example,  the  figure  in  the 
hands  of  the  female  in  the  right  of  the  lower  division  of  Plate  V*.     The 

I  The  bee  is  a  iiiaudibnUito  in«cct,  bnt  has  an  elongated  tongne  for  extracting  tlio  nectar  of  flowers. 
•Sfe  Appendix  No.  :i,  F.. 


THOMAS)  EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  PLATES  IIP-IX*.  117 

upper  part  bears  a  different  mark  from  the  lower.  The  lower  part  is  marked 
with  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  symbol  for  Cauac,  which,  as  heretofore 
stated,  when  given  in  this  way  appear  to  signify  that  the  thing  upon  which 
they  are  placed  is  made  of  wood.  The  characters  on  the  upper  portion 
resemble  Caban,  and  here  probably  signify  Cab,  "honey,"  or  Cabnal,  "a 
hive  of  honey";  but  it  is  proper  to  warn  the  reader  that  in  other  places,  as 
will  hereafter  appear,  it  is  used  to  denote  the  material  of  which  a  seat  is 
made.  I  think  it  more  than  likely  that  here  it  refers  to  the  vessel  in  which 
the  honey  is  contained  I  presume  this  to  be  the  case,  because  the  indi- 
viduals in  the  lower  division  of  Plate  IX*  appear  to  have  lifted  the  honey 
out  of  the  vessel  which  lies  at  their  feet ;  and  we  also  see  on  the  arm  of  the 
individual  at  the  left  of  the  lower  division  of  Plate  V*  a  figure  marked  with 
this  same  chai-acter.  As  he  has  a  staff  in  his  right  hand  he  is  probably 
returning  from  a  successful  bee-hunt,  bearing  his  prize. 

According  to  Landa  the  apiarists  held  two  festivals  during  the  year, 
one  in  the  fifth  month  (Tzec),  and  the  other  in  the  eighth  month  (Mol); 
that  is,  in  October  and  December.  But  according  to  the  red  and  black 
numerals  in  these  plates  the  one  referred  to  appears  to  have  been  held 
annually,  on  the  days  Cib,  Caban  and  Ezanab,  in  the  17th  month — Kayab — 
corresponding  to  the  first  part  of  June.  The  female  in  the  lower  division 
of  Plate  V*  is  probably  Colebil-Xbohn-choch,  a  goddess  supposed  to  be  the 
patron  of  the  apiai-ists. 

I  would  also  call  attention  to  the  following  additional  items  on  these 
plates  which  are  worthy  of  notice. 

On  Plate  III*,  upper  division,  next  to  the  left-hand  figure,  we  notice  a 
kind  of  cross  arising  out  of  the  body  of  a  bee.  On  this  cross  are  parts  of 
a  partially  obliterated  figure,  which,  upon  close  inspection,  I  decide  with- 
out hesitation  was  that  of  a  bird,  reminding  us  of  the  bird  on  the  Tablet  of 
the  Cross  at  Palanque  and  on  crosses  in  several  of  the  Mexican  Codices. 
A  foot,  the  tail,  and  parts  of  the  wings  are  yet  plainly  visible.  The  right- 
hand  figure  of  the  same  division  also  shows  a  plant  in  the  form  of  a  cross 
arising  out  of  the  body  of  a  bee.  I  presume  these  relate  to  the  requests  to 
the  gods  for  rain  to  make  the  plants  produce  flowers  for  the  bees. 

The  figure  at  the  right  of  the  middle  division  of  the  same  plate,  which 


118  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

I  take  to  be  the  god  of  death,  appears  to  be  in  the  act  of  breaking  a  vessel 
of  earthenware,  which,  as  the  presence  of  the  cross-bones  indicates,  is 
intended  to  signify  death.  The  cliaracter  between  the  parts  of  the  broken 
vessel  probably  signifies  "divided"  or  separated. 

The  figures  along  the  lower  margin. of  the  middle  division  of  Plates 
VII*,  VIII*,  IX*,  and  X*  are  chiefly  representations  of  offerings  made  to 
the  gods  of  the  bee-keepers,  as  here  Ave  see  the  leg  of  a  deer,  bread,  maize,  &c. 

The  broad  rectangular  red  figures  in  the  middle  division  of  the  plates 
last  mentioned,  and  elsewhere,  from  which  tlie  bees  are  flying,  may  repre- 
sent hives  which  were  suspended  by  cords.  If  not,  I  am  wholly  unable  to 
guess  their  meaning. 

As  I  have  not  been  able  to  group  the  remaining  plates  of  the  Manu- 
script in  a  satisfactory  manner,  I  will  content  myself  with  referring  to  such 
figures  as  I  think  I  can  explain,  without  attempting,  except  in  a  few  cases, 
to  show  their  connection  with  others. 

The  females  and  god  of  death  figured  on  Plate  XI*'  appear  to  be 
weaving,  or  making  ropes.  The  figures  themselves  indicate  this  so  plainly 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  in  my  mind  in  reference  to  it.  Moreover,  some  of  the 
written  characters,  as  I  think,  correspond  with  this  interpretation. 

It  is  probable  the  figures  are  also  symbolic  representations  of  human 
life.  The  female  figure,  I  presume,  is  intended  to  represent  the  goddess 
Ixcliel,  who,  in  addition  to  her  other  powers  or  attributes,  was  supposed  to 
preside  over  the  formation  and  birth  of  infants.  The  interlaced  or  cross- 
hatched  bundle  before  her  accords  with  this  idea,  if  my  interpretation  of  this 
reticulate  figure  be  correct — that  is,  that  it  signifies  zih^  or  zihil,  "birth"  or 
"origin." 

The  presence  of  the  god  of  death  so  close  at  hand  and  the  death  sym- 
bol before  him  in  the  second  division,  and  twice  in  the  lower  division,  are 
doubtless  intended  to  signify  the  uncertainty  of  human  life.  The  Ezanab 
character  on  the  head  of  this  god  in  this  place — as  this  is  not  usual — must 

'  lu  writing  Maya  worils  I  follow  the  orthography  of  the  lexicons,  hut  in  referring  to  the  signili- 
cation  am  guided  by  what  I  suppose  to  have  been  the  sound — for  example,  tz,  s,  and  in  some  cases  ch 
appear  to  he  used  to  denote  the  same  sound,  or  at  least  are  the  ruling  elements  of  similar  words  having 
similar  signification.  As  a  matter  of  course  the  natives  could  make  the  distinctions  in  their  pronuncia- 
tion. I  may  also  as  well  state  here  that  I  make  no  claim  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Maya  language.  I 
simply  refer  to  the  lexicons  and  grammar  for  such  use  as  I  desire  to  make  of  it  in  this  paper. 


TI10M.VS1  EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  PLATES  XIP-XVII*.  119 

have  some  particulai'  signification  especially  applicable  to  what  is  here  sym- 
bolized. As  some  of  the  cognate  words,  especially  where  the  aspirate  is 
used,  denote  "certainty,"  it  is  possible  that  it  is  used  here  to  signify  the 
certa.inty  of  death. 

Plates  XII*  to  XVII*  undoubtedly  relate  to  the  manufacture  of  idols. 
In  the  second  division  of  XII*  (see  Fig.  34)  we  see  the  artists  painting 
them  with  the  slip  of  yucca  or  maguey  leaf,  as  described  by  Colonel  Ste- 
A'enson,  and  also  by  Mrs.  Stevenson  in  her  admirable  little  pamphlet  on  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  Zuni  Indians. 

In  the  third  division  we  observe  the  priests  consecrating  the  implements 
and  the  wood  out  of  which  their  wooden  idols  are  to  be  made.  These 
plates,  I  think,  refer  to  the  manufacture  of  both  kinds  of  idols,  those  of 
burnt  clay  and  those  of  wood.  The  wooden  block  is  here  represented  by 
the  oblong  figure  with  Cauac  characters  on  it;  the  implement  by  the  twisted 
figure  on  or  against  the  block.  My  reasons  for  believing  that  this  is  a  tool 
of  some  kind  used  in  working  wood  is  that  in  the  third  division  of  Plate 
XXIII*,  I  see  it  in  the  hands  of  individuals  who  are  evidentlj'  doing  some- 
thing to  trees.  The  trees  appear  to  be  severed  as  though  cut  oif  by  a  rude 
saw  of  some  kind. 

The  figures  in  the  second  division  of  Plates  XIII*  and  XIV*  probably 
represent  the  idols  in  the  kilns,  or  in  their  positions  for  baking;  what  the 
birds  on  them  signify  I  am  unable  to  say;  possibly  they  relate  to  auguries. 

The  figures  of  bent  trees  in  the  third  and  lower  divisions  of  Plate 
XIII*   may    denote    the    temporary  cabins    in    which  they 
worked. 

The  figures  in  the  lower  division  probably  represent  what 
Landa  alludes  to  when  he  says,  "where  they  placed  the  wood 
with  a  great  urn  (tinaja)  for  to  keep  shut  up  (or  inclosed)  the 
idols  all  the  time  they  were  at  work  upon  them."^  ^'i^-  i''- 

We  see  here  the  priests  offering  incense  in  a  singularly  shaped  burner 
(Fig.  17)  over  these  unfinished  idols. 

The  wood  of  which  the  images  were  formed  was  probably  placed  in 

'  See  Appendix  No.  3  H. 


120  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

these  urns  and  steamed,  in  order  to  soften  it,  or,  after  carving',  to  give  the 
images  themselves  the  desired  color. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  is  called  to  the  figures  on  vvhicli  the  indi- 
viduals in  the  upper  division  of  this  and  of  Plate  XIV*  are  seated.  The 
characters  with  which  they  are  marked  denote,  as  I  believe,  that  they  are 
wooden  seats  or  platforms. 

In  the  left-hand  compartment  of  the  third  division  of  Plate  XIV*  we 
see  one  of  the  priests,  or  artists,  dressed  to  represent  the  god  of  death,  pre- 
paring the  paint.  The  other  two  figures  in  the  same  division  show  them  at 
their  devotions  in  their  cabins.  In  the  lower  division  they  are  at  woi'k 
carving  the  images.  The  peculiar  form  of  the  instrument  here  figured  (see 
Fig.  35)  leads  me  to  believe  it  was  of  metal. 

In  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XV*  are  the  "messengers,"  who  were 
sent  by  the  priests  to  procure  the  wood,  with  machetes  in  hand,  chopping 
down  the  trees.  Although  Landa  states  that  cedar  alone  was  used  in  this 
work  two  different  species  of  trees  are  evidently  represented  here,  the  black 
one  doubtless  the  native  ebony  out  of  which  their  "black"  images  were 
carved. 

Division  two  of  Plates  XV*  and  XVI*,  and  division  four  of  XVII*  and 
XVIII*,  represent  the  artists  at  work  carving  images,  but  here  the  machete 
is  the  chief  implement  used. 

The  upper  division  of  XVII*  contains  two  groups  of  figures  which  I 
find  it  difficult  to  interpret  satisfactorily.  I  think  these  are  symbolic  repre- 
sentations, and  not  pictographs.  The  left  group  may  possibly  signify  that 
out  of  the  earth  (represented  by  the  head  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner) 
springs  the  tree  (denoted  by  the  curved  beam  with  Cauac  characters  upon 
it);  that  it  finall}'-  produces  a  god  (the  figure  at  the  top)  to  which  the 
people  and  priests  off'er  incense  and  viands.  If  this  be  the  true  interpreta- 
tion it  is  a  severe  satire  upon  their  worship,  and  reminds  us  strongly  of  the 
sarcasm  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  on  the  religion  of  the  idolaters  of  his  day. 

The  group  to  the  right  is  possibly  a  figurative  representation  of  a  similar 
idea.  At  the  base  are  two  Tlaloc  heads,  emblems  of  fertility,  out  of  which 
arises  a  tree  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  on  which  is  seated  an  idol.  The  plant 
probably  signifies  .the  "tree  of  life,"  or  "life-giving  plant." 


TH0MA..1        EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES  ON  PLATES  XVIIP-XXI*.  121 

Similar  crosses  found  in  other  Codices,  with  two  indicated  halves,  denote 
the  meeting  of  two  periods  of  time — that  is,  the  close  of  one  period  and  the 
commencement  of  another;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  such  idea  is  con- 
nected with  this  one.  I  think  it  has  reference  to  the  newly-formed  god,  as 
we  see  the  priest  here  also  presenting  offerings.  The  character  at  the  foot 
of  the  priest,  according  to  what  we  have  heretofore  ascertained,  denotes 
bread.  In  the  third  division  we  probably  see  the  newly-made  images  in 
baskets,  covered  with  cloth,  as  stated  by  Landa,  whose  description  of  this 
work  will  be  found  in  Appendix  No.  3,  I. 

The  persons  represented  in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XVIII*  are  pierc- 
ing their  ears  and  sprinkling  the  blood  on  tortillas,  or  on  the  sacred  stones 
Acantun. 

In  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XIX*,  and  running  over  upon  the  right 
margin  of  XX*,  and  in  the  second  division  of  the  former,  we  have,  as  I 
believe,  a  series  of  figures  relating  to  one  subject.  The  earnest  desire  of 
the  Maya  woman  for  posterity  is  a  fact  well  known ;  it  is  also  well  known 
that  to  this  end  it  was  their  custom  to  beseech  the  aid  of  their  deities  with 
earnest  prayers.  In  this  series  of  figures  we  see,  I  think,  this  custom  rep- 
resented and  its  result.  Commencing  at  the  right  of  XIX*  and  moving 
toward  the  left,  there  is,  first,  the  woman  pleading  with  one  deity,  who  turns 
his  back  upon  her — that  is,  refuses  to  grant  her  prayer;  the  next  one  listens, 
but  gives  no  favorable  response;  the  third  is  more  favorable;  and  now  the 
first  (shown  again  in  the  fourth  figure)  and  the  second  (shown  again  on 
Plate  XX*)  are  disposed  to  be  gracious. 

In  the  second  division  is  shown  the  result.  Proceeding  from  the  right 
towards  the  left  we  observe  the  tightening  girdle;  next,  one  strand  broken 
and  then  the  other.  The  figures  on  which  they  are  sitting  are  probably 
intended  for  mats. 

Although  this  series  may  have  a  general  application  it  is  possible  that 
it  refers  also  to  incidents  in  the  life  history  of  some  goddess,  or  noted  female 
of  the  early  days  of  the  nation. 

The  figures  in  the  third  division  of  XVIII*  and  XIX*  may  have  some 
relation  to  the  series  first  referred  to;  but,  if  so,  I  have  not  succeeded  in 
finding  it  out. 


122  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

The  lower  divisions  of  XIX*  and  XX*  are  occupied  with  figures  of 
women  bearing  burdens.  The  substance  borne  by  three  out  of  the  eight  is 
denoted  by  Kan  figures,  which,  as  I  have  heretofore  intimated,  represent 
maize.  The  two  burdens  indicated  by  death  symbols  possibly  denote  the 
bones  or  ashes  of  their  dead;  I  think  it  likely  some  of  them  denotes  cala- 
bashes, gourds,  or  some  vegetable  of  this  kind. 

This  "death  symbol,"  as  I  have  called  it,  may  also  be  used  as  the 
symbol  of  some  such  vegetable  product,  especially  as  there  are  one  or  two 
Maya  words  of  similar  sound  that  signify  calabash,  gourd,  &c.  The  right- 
hand  figure  of  XX*  is  carrying  something  which  pi-obably  denotes  squashes, 
and  the  two  at  the  right  of  XIX*  their  lares  and  penates. 

The  figures  in  the  third  division  of  Plate  XX*  (see  Fig.  8())  form  the 
sequel  to  the  first  and  second  of  XIX*,  but  we  are  not  to  vinderstand  this  as 
representing  baptism,^  as  the  sprinkling  is  not  performed  by  a  priest,  nor  is 
there  a  priest  present;  but  rather  as  ordinary  ablutions 

The  two  figures  in  the  left  compartment,  upper  division  of  XXI*,  are 
undoubtedly  time  symbols.  The  triangular  Ezanab  character  in  front  of 
the  Chac  probably  denotes  the  close  of  a  luster  or  Cycle,  as  this  is  the  last 
of  the  intercalated  days  of  the  Ix  j^ears.  The  circles  on  the  curved  figure 
may  signify  years  or  Ahaues. 

The  females  in  the  lower  divisions  of  XXI*  and  XXII*  appear  from 
their  hair  to  be  young  unmarried  persons,  who  are  probably  praying  unto 
the  gods,  represented  by  the  idols  before  them,  to  give  them  husbands,  or 
to  grant  some  special  favor. 

The  upper  division  of  Plates  XXIII*-XXVIII*  appear  to  relate 
to  warfare.  On  Plate  XXVII*  we  see  the  victors  returning,  leading  their 
prisoners  and  captured  animals,  singing  and  dancing  as  they  move  along. 
By  the  wayside  is  one  of  the  slain  enemies  being  devoured  by  a  vulture. 
Here  the  priest  is  seen  also  with  his  captive,  but,  as  might  be  expected,  it 
is  a  woman. 

On  XXVI*  and  XXV*  we  see  the  prisoners  delivered  into  the  hands  of 
the  priests  to  be  sacrificed.     Holding  by  the  hair,  as  here  shown,  appears 

'As  to  the  Maya  baptism,  see  the  quotation  from  Landa's  Rclacion  and  Translation,  Appendix 


THCMAB]     EXPLANATION  OF  FIGUEES  ON  PLATES  XXIIP-XXVIII*.       123 

always  to  indicate  that  the  individual  is  to  be  sacrificed.  Repeated  exam- 
ples may  be  found  in  the  Mexican  Codices. 

On  the  former  there  is  also  the  figure  of  a  bird  plucking  the  eye  out 
of  one  of  the  slain;  but  here,  as  I  think,  something  more  is  intended  than 
simply  that  a  vulture  is  devouring  a  dead  man.  The  peculiar  eye  and 
black  body  show  very  clearly  that  this  is  the  same  bird  as  that  on  the  right 
in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XXVIII*.  In  the  latter  we  see  the  figures 
of  two  birds  in  deadly  conflict.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  picture?  I 
believe  it  is  a  kind  of  pictograph,  somewhat  similar  to  those  drawn  by 
modern  Indians,  and  that  it  signifies  a  battle  between  two  tribes,  represented 
by  tliese  two  birds.  The  bird  with  the  red  circle  around  the  eye  denotes 
that  tribe  to  which  the  author  of  the  Manuscript  belonged,  and  which,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  was  victorious.  This  is  shown  by  the  figure  on  Plate 
XXVI*  previously  referred  to.  As  further  evidence  of  this  we  see  the 
other  bird  a  captive  in  the  hands  of  the  individual  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
upper  division  of  Plate  XXIII*. 

On  Plate  XXIV*  we  observe  the  god  of  the  conquered  tribe  a  captive 
in  the  hands  of  the  deity  of  the  victors,  and  in  front  of  them  a  soldier  run- 
ning away  with  captured  spoils,  and  the  priest  with  the  captured  woman. 
On  Plate  XXIII*  is  the  figure  of  a  Chac  firing  the  dwellings  of  the  con- 
quered village.  The  last-mentioned  figure  is  the  one  Brasseur  interpreted 
as  signifying  the  craters  of  a  double  volcano. 

The  reader  is  not  to  understand  that  I  claim  that  the  order  in  which 
these  figures  are  mentioned  is  that  in  which  they  should  come,  nor  is  it 
claimed  that  they  denote  here  a  real  battle,  as  it  is  probable  they  represent 
only  a  kind  of  play  enacted  during  some  festival;  yet  there  is  doubtless  an 
allusion  to  some  real  battle  or  war.  My  principal  reason  for  believing  it 
represents  only  a  play  is  the  significant  absence  of  weapons. 

The  following  account  of  the  celebration  of  a  Pipil  victory  is  taken 
from  Bancroft'' s  Native  Races: 

"When  information  was  received  from  their  war  chief  that  lie  had 
gained  a  victory,  the  diviner  ascertained  to  which  of  the  gods  sacrifice  was 
to  be  made.  If  to  Quetzalcoatl,  the  ceremony  lasted  fifteen  days,  and  upon 
each  day  they  sacrificed  a  prisoner.     These  sacrifices  were  made  as  follows: 


124  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

All  those  who  had  been  in  the  battle  returned  home  in  procession,  singing 
and  dancing-,  bringing  with  them  the  captives  who  were  to  be  sacrificed, 
their  wrists  and  ankles  decorated  with  feathers  and  chalchiuites  and  their 
necks  with  strings  of  cacao-nibs.  The  high-priests  and  other  ministers 
went  out  at  the  head  of  the  populace  to  meet  them  with  music  and  dancing, 
and  tlie  caciques  and  captains  delivered  over  those  who  were  to  be  sacrificed 
to  the  high-priests.  Then  they  all  went  together  to  the  court-yard  of  their 
hiepa  or  temple,  where  they  continued  dancing  day  and  night  during  the 
time  the  sacrifices  lasted.  In  the  middle  of  the  court  was  a  stone  bench  on 
which  the  victim  was  stretched,  four  priests  holding  him  by  the  feet  and 
bands.  The  sacrificing  priest  then  came  forward,  adorned  with  many 
feathers  and  loaded  with  little  bells,  holding  in  his  hand  a  flint  knife,  with 
which  he  opened  the  breast  of  his  victim,  tore  out  the  heart,  brandished  it 
toward  the  cardinal  points,  and  finally  threw  it  into  the  air  with  sufiicient 
force  to  cause  it  to  fall  directly  in  the  middle  of  the  court,  saying,  'Receive, 
0  God,  this  thank-offering  for  the  victory.'  This  sacrifice  was  public  and 
beheld  by  all  the  people." 


CHAPTER    V. 

SYMBOLS,  PICTOGRAPHS,  AND  OTHER  FIGURES  WHICH  CAN- 
NOT BE  PROPERLY  CLASSED  AS  WRITTEN  CHARACTERS. 

Before  attempting  to  explain  any  of  the  written  characters  I  will  notice 
some  other  figures  which  are  true  pictures,  but  were  not  specially  alluded 
to  when  speaking  of  the  figures  in  the  spaces ;  others  which  may  be  classed 
as  pictographs,  and  some  which  appear  to  be  true  symbols. 

Foot-prints. — These  appear  to  have  two  or  three  different  significations 
in  the  various  manuscripts. 

First.  A  journey  made,  denoting  not  the  road,  but  the  fact  that  some 
one  has  passed  on  in  a  given  direction,  that  a  journey  has  been  partly  or 
completely  accomplished.  This  use  is  common  in  some  of  the  Mexican 
Codices. 

Second.  That  so  many  periods  of  time  have  ela^ssed.  This  appears  to 
be  their  signification  on  Plates  34  to  38  of  the  Borgian  Codex  and  Plates 
25  to  28  of  the  Dresden  Codex. 

Third.  To  denote  movements  to  be  made  during  certain  religious  fes- 
tivals. This  appears  to  be  one  object  of  their  use  in  the  Manuscript  Troano, 
as,  for  example,  on  Plates  III  and  VI.     Another  is  to  indicate  journeyings. 

The  machete  or  hatchet  {hat  in  Maya)  is  represented  in  the  Manuscript 
in  two  forms  (Fig.  18,  a  and  6).  As  it  is  not  likely  the  artist  intended  to  be 
strictly  accurate  in  minor  details,  his  only  desire  being  to  represent  the 
implement  with  sufficient  exactness  to  insui'e  its  recognition,  we  may  not  be 
warranted  in  assuming  that  these  two  forms  indicate  a  diffei'ence  in  the 
hatchets.     The  one  marked  a  may  be  the  conventional  figure,  and  h  an 


126 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


"T- 


to 


attempt  at  true  pictorial  representation;  yet  I  suggest  as  possible  that  the 

latter,  which  was  used  in  carving  the  wooden  images,  may  represent  the 

copper  ax  and  the  other  the  stone  ax.     Landa  (Relacion  §XX1X)  says: 

"Tiiey  had    little  hatchets    of  a  particular  metal  of  this 

form   [Fig.    ISc;].      These    they  adjusted   to   a   handle  of 

wood;  in  combat  these  served  them  as  an  arm;  they  were 

also  instruments  used  in  ivorkhifi  wood." 

The  S2}car  or  dart,  and  one  method  of  throwing  it,  is 

shown  in  Fig.  13  (page  86),  heretofore  referred  to.     I  judge 

from  this  that  a  kind  of  hook  or  hand  ballista  was  used  to 

give  it  more  force.     Something  similar  is  shown  frequently 

in  the  Mexican  Codices  and,  according  to  Valentini,  on  the 

Berlin  stone.     The  instrument  in  the  other  hand  may  be  a 

stick  with  a  notch  in  it  to  guide  the  dart;  the  only  reason 

for  doubting  this  is  the  bent  form  given  the  one  figured  on 
Fig.  18.  ^jjg  j^g^^  jji^^g 

The  usual  form  of  the  spear  as  given  in  the  Manuscript  is  shown  in 

19rt.     This  often  has  the  head  marked  with  the  trembling  cross  similar 
to  that  in  Ezanab,  probably  denoting  that  it  _ 
was  made  of  flint.  ■■ 

The  arrow,  if  such  it  be  (as  no  bow  is 
found  in  the  Manuscript),  is  generally  figured 
with  the  head  in  this  form  (Fig.  I^fh),  indi- 
cating, if  truly  represented,  that  a  flint  was 
thrust  into  the  split  end  of  the  shaft  in  the  usual  way;  the  other  end  of  the 
shaft  Avas  surrounded  by  two  feather  whirls.  Possiblj'  these  are  darts 
thrown  by  hand  and  not  arrows. 

I  have  been  somewhat  surprised  to  find  nothing  in  this  work  indicating 
warfare,  unless  it  be  the  figures  which  1  have  heretofore  interpreted  as 
probably  representing  a  play.  Ilerrera,  speaking  of  the  expedition  of  Cor- 
dova (Dec.  2,  Bk.  1,  chap.  3),  says  that,  while  at  Cotoche,  "there  appeared 
a  multitude  [of  Indians]  in  armor  made  of  quilted  cotton,  with  targets, 
wooden  swords  having  edges  of  flints,  large  cutlasses,  spears,  and  slings 


Fig 


in=n^ 


TH0MAS.1  SYMBOLS  AND  PICTOGRAPHS.  127 

*  *  *  *  pouring  in  at  the  same  time  such  a  sliower  of  stones  and  arrows 
that  they  wounded  fifteen  Spaniards." 

Bernal  Diaz,  from  whom  Herrera  evidently  quotes,  says:  "These  war- 
riors were  armed  with  thick  coats  of  cotton,  and  carried  besides  their  bows 
and  arrows,  lances,  shields,  and  slings."^ 

Landa  (Relacion  §XXIX)  says  their  offensive  weapons  were  bows  and 
arrows,  which  they  bore  in  a  quiver,  the  latter  made  of  reeds  and  having 
the  points  armed  Avith  obsidian  or  fish-teeth,  and  very  sharp.  "They  had 
little  hatchets  of  a  particular  metal,"  heretofore  referred  to,  "which,  in  com- 
bat, served  them  as  an  arm."  "They  also  had  lances  a  tois  [fathom]  in 
length,  armed  at  the  end  with  a  silex  head,  very  hard.  And  they  had  no 
other  arms." 

Figures  in  red,  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  20  (the  little  squares  only  are 
alluded  to),  are  found  in  a  number  of  places  in  the  Manuscript. 
Brasseur  interprets  them  as  symbols  for  cah,  "honey  "  or  "honey- 
comb." The  connection  in  which  they  are  found  I  think 
proves  that  he  is  correct.  We  find  elsewhere,  as  in  the  char- 
acter for  Cauac,  and  on  articles  made  of  wood,  a  similar  figure, 
usually  smaller,  outlined  in  black,  but  never  colored.  Attention  will  be 
called  to  this  hereafter. 

A  figure  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  21  is  also  found  on  several  plates 


<2>     ^i^      ^ 


Fio.  21.  Fig.  22.  Fig.  23.  Fig.  24. 

of  the  Manuscript,  but  never  in  the  Codex.  Sometimes  it  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  priest,  but  in  a  few  instances  it  seems  to  be  used  as  a  character  or 
symbol.  Brasseur's  interpretation  is  nen  or  "mirror";  but  this  I  think  is  a 
mistake.  It  is  more  probable  that  it  is  a  figure  of  the  calendar  ivlieel  men- 
tioned by  Landa. 

Mortars  used  for  preparing  paints  are  represented  in  two  forms  (see 
Figs.  22  and  23):  i\\Q\v  paint-pots  as  in  Fig.  24. 

On  Plate  XXXIV  we  observe  the  priests  in  ^he  act  of  painting  blue 
that  which  is  here  shown  (Fig.  25),  which  is  probably  a  little  adoratorio 

'  Hist. — Keatiug's  Traiisl.  p.  4. 


128 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSOEIPT  TEOANO. 


baldachin  or  place  in  wliicli  their  idols  were  seated  in  their  temples.     Some- 
thing similar  is  also  found  elsewhere  in  the  same  work. 

Houses,  cabins,  and  other  buildings,  even  temples  in  which  their  idols 
were  placed,  appear  usually  to  be  represented  in  the 
Manuscript  by  such  figures  as  shown  in  cuts  26,  27, 
28,  and  29. 

These,  as  will  be  seen  by  comparison,  are  really 
but  slight  variations  from  theMexican  conventional 
symbol  for  a  house  {caJli). 

The  side  wall  in  Fig.  29  appears  to  be  com- 
posed of  blocks  of  some 
kind  placed  one  iipon 
another,  probably  of 
stone,  each  bearing  the 
Muluc  character.  Jfb/, 
the  root  from  which  most 
of  the  words  commenc- 
ing with  mol  and  mid 
^"^-  ^'  are  derived,  signifies  "a  ^''°-  ^'^■ 

group  of  things  united  or  congregated  one  upon  another,''  but  without  refer- 
ence to  the  material  of  which  they  are  composed.  It  is  true  that  in  this 
house  we  see  the  figure  of  a  bee,  and  might  therefore  suppose  it  represents 
the  place  where  the  hives  were  kept,  but  the  officiating  priest  in  front  leads 
us  to  believe  it  denotes  a  temple  of  some  kind  in 
which  the  ceremonies  of  the  apiarists'  festival  were 
performed.  The  character  at  the  top  of  the  wall 
with  a  cross  in  it,  somewhat  resembling  that  in  the 
symbol  for  Ezanah,  is  very  common  in  these  figures. 
This  probably  marks  the  end  of  the  beam  which 
was  placed  on  the  wall  to  support  the  roof  I  so 
conclude  because  I  find  that  it  is  wanting  in  the 
lighter  and  temporary  dwellings,  represented  in  Fig.  28.  The  interpreta- 
tion of  the  character  as  here  used  is  doubtful.  The  curved  line  running 
from  this  to  the  top  portion  probably  represents  the  rafter;  the  slender 


HOUSE  SYMBOLS. 


129 


thread-like  lines  (yellow  in  the  oi-iginal)  the  straw  or  grass  with  which  the 
roof  was  thatched. 

The  checkered  part  niay  represent  a  matting  of  reeds  or  bi'ushwood, 
on  which  the  straw  was  placed. 

Tlie  following  extract  from  Landa  will  give  an  idea  of  the  form  and 
structure  of  the  ordinary  dwelhngs  of  the  people  as  seen  by  him: 

"habitations    of    the    MAYAS. 

"The  manner  of  building  the  houses  in  Yucatan  was  to  cover  them 
with  straw,  which  they  had  in  abundance  and  of  good  quality,  or  with 
leaves  of  the  palm  trees,  well  suited  to  this  pur-  \V\  ;■'  'i  ''■'//T 

pose.  Thy  raised  the  roof,  giving  it  a  consider- 
able pitch,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  rain  could 
not  penetrate  it.  A  wall  was  then  erected  in 
the  center,  dividing  the 
louse  lengthwise,  leaving 
in  this  wall  some  doors 
V  J-j  ^^^  cr?  for  communicating  with 
the  part  which  was  called 
the  back  of  the  house, 
¥iG.2S.  where    they  had    their  fig.  29. 

beds;  the  other  part  was  carefully  whitewashed  with  lime.  In  the  houses  of 
the  nobles  these  walls  were  covered  with  pleasant  pictures.  It  was  in  this 
part  that  they  received  and  lodged  their  guests. 

"This  side  had  no  doors,  but  was  open  the  whole  length  of  the  house, 
the  roof  descending  very  low,  in  order  that  it  might  be  a  shelter  from  the 
sun  and  rain.  It  is  also  said  that  this  was  to  render  himself  master  of  the 
enemy  inside^  in  time  of  necessity. 

"The  common  people  built  at  their  expense  the  houses  of  the  nobles, 
and  as  they  had  no  doors  it  was  regarded  as  a  grave  fault  to  make  the  least 
error  in  the  houses  of  others. 

"They  had  formerly  at  the  back  a  small  door  for  the  nse  of  the  com- 
mon people. 


'  The  passage  is  very  difiSciiU  anil  the  rendering  doubtful. 


0  M   T 


130         A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

"For  sleeping-places  they  had  bedsteads  made  in  a  ti'ellis  of  canes, 
covered  with  mats,  and  on  these  they  stretched  themselves  covered  with 
their  clothes  of  cotton.  During  the  summer  they  usually  slept  on  the  front 
extended  on  their  mats,  principally  the  men."^ 

What  is  shown  in  Fig.  26  possibly  represents  a  small  wooden  adoratorio, 
niche,  or  canopied  seat,  in  which  we  see  an  idol.  I  judge  the  side  wall  to 
be  wooden  by  its  form  and  by  the  characters  on  it.  That  these  characters 
are  used  to  signify  wood,  and  possibly  a  particular  species,  I  think  is  evident 
from  the  following  facts :  Running  through  the  Manuscript  we  first  observe 
them  in  this  figure  on  what  we  may  justly  assume  to  be  an  upright  wooden 
beam.  We  see  the  crosses  or  XX  on  what  are  evidently  the  ends  of  beams 
in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  IX;  and  in  another  figure  (Plate  XXII*), 
intended  to  represent  the  same  thing,  we  see  on  the  ends  of  the  beams  both 
the  squares  and  crosses.  They  are  also  on  a  tree  in  the  right  of  the  upper 
division  of  Plate  XV*. 

In  the  last-mentioned  figure  we  notice  that  the  tree  is  severed  by  a 
machete  or  hatchet  in  the  hands  of  a  priest  representing  the  god  of  death. 
In  the  upper  divisions  of  Plates  XIIFand  XIV*tbe  same  character  is  on 
the  benches  upon  which  the  personages  are  seated.  The  blocks,  boxes, 
hives,  or  whatever  they  may  be,  in  the  first  division  of  Plate  IX*,  and  the 
blocks  in  the  hands  of  the  individuals  figured  in  the  middle  division  of 
Plate  XXII*  are  marked  with  the  same  character. 

The  widely  difi"erent  forms  and  the  diversity  of  uses  to  which  the 
thino-s  bearing  this  charactei-  are  applied  make  it  evident  that  if  the  char- 
acter refers  at  all  to  the  thing  on  which  it  is  placed,  it  must  be  to  the  sub- 
stance. As  it  is  found,  in  some  cases,  on  figures  that  we  know  must  repre- 
sent trees,  the  necessary  conclusion  is  that  it  denotes  wood.  Whether  it  is 
meant  as  a  general  term,  or  applies  to  a  particular  species,  is  a  cjuestion  I 
am  unable  to  answer  with  certainty. 

I  will  call  attention  to  tlie  character  itself  and  its  probable  inteipreta- 
tion  a  little  further  on. 

The  houses  shown  in  Plate  XVI*  (see  Fig.  28)  are  probably  the  tem- 
porary cabins  mentioned  by  Landa  in  which  the  artists  manufactured  their 

'Landa's  lielacion,  pp.  110  and  111;  see  AppeiidixNo.  4,  where  the  original  k  "iveu. 


HOUSE  SYMBOLS— ROPE-MAKING. 


131 


wooden  idols.  We  observe  that  the  character  with  the  cross  is  wanting,  and 
hence  presume  that  the  walls  were  too  slender  to  bear  the  weight  of  a  beam. 
They  were  probably  built  of  slender  poles  or  of  canes,  as  was  common  in 
Guatemala,  and  covered  perhaps  with  palm-leaves. 

Instead  of  the  figures  at  the  top  always  being  marked  in  the  peculiar 
manner  which  I  have  supposed  to  indicate  matting,  it  is  sometimes  marked 
with  bent  lines,  similar  to  those  on  the  figures  representing  cords  or  ropes. 
On  some  of  the  plates,  as,  for  example,  XIII*  and  XIV*,  the  figure  of 
a  bent  tree  appears  to  be  used  to  denote  a  dwelling  of  some  kind,  possibly 
only  a  temporary  booth.  It  is  true  figures  of  this  kind  are  given  in  a  num- 
ber of  other  places  for  a  very  different  purpose,  as  on  Plates  VIII  to  XIII, 
where  they  are  used  to  represent  the  method  of  capturing  deer;  but  a  little 
examination  will  show  a  marked  difi'erence  between  the  two  kinds. 

If  I  am  correct  in  reference  to  the  houses,  then  it  is  probable  the 
Manuscript  relates  to  a  section  of  country  where  the  dwellings  and  the 
temples  were  of  a  primitive  character. 

But  few  houses  or  dwellings  are  represented  in  the  Dresden  Codex. 
In  the  lower  division  of  Plate  8  there  are  figures  of  two,  one  of  which  is 
copied  in  our  Fig.  30.     These  ma}^  represent  temples  placed 
on  pyramids  or  elevated  platforms  ascending  by  steps,  as  in- 
dicated in  the  figure. 

The  diff'ei'ent  forms  of  their  vases 
are  given  ifi  our  Plates  I-IV  (Ms. 
XX-XXIII). 

The  leg  of  a  deer,  to  which  allusion 
has  already  been  made,  is  shown  by 
the  3'ellow  figure  with  a  double,  white 
band  and  black  tips  in  the  upper  lelt-hand  corner  of  the  lower  division  of 
Plate  I  (Ms  XX). 

The  machine  or  apparatus  used  for,  and  the  method  of  making,  ropes 
or  cords,  is  represented  on  Plate  XI*  and  in  our  Figs.  31  and  32.  The  first 
(Fig.  31)  shows  the  method  of  preparing  the  material.  Strips  of  the  sub- 
stance used,  probably  the  inner  bark  of  some  tree,  or  aloe  fiber,  is  placed 
on  a  bench  of  the  form  shown,  which  has  pieces  extending  upward  from 


132 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 


the  sides,  so  as  to  retain  the  strips  in  position.  A  kind  of  hand  hackle  is 
then  nsed,  as  shown  in  Fig.  31,  to  slit  them  to  the  proper  fineness.  After 
some  process  not  given,  we  next  find  the  material  rolled  into  a  ball.  The 
next  process,  that  of  twist- 
ing into  the  rope  or  cord, 
is  represented  in  Fig.  32. 
A  few  feet  having  been 
twisted  by  hand,  the  end 
is  fastened  to  a  little  tree 
or  stuinp,  the  ball  of  ma- 
terial is  placed  in  a  vessel  or  on  a  stool,  while  by  means  of  a  spatnla-shaped 
instrument,  doubtless  of  wood,  the  twisting  is  carried  on.  It  is  probable 
the  implement  is  nsed  simply  to  turn  the  ball,  while  the  person  at  work 
gradually  moves  backward. 

The  idols,  while  in  the  process  of  manufacture,  are  usually  represented 
by  the  heads  only;  those  not  yet  painted  or  ornamented,  without  any  other 
lines  than  those  necessary  to  show  the  parts  or  organs,  as  in  Fig.  33,  which 
shows  also  the  method  of  carving  (see  Plate  XY*) ;  those  which  are  painted 

or  ornamented  (Fig.  34). 
One  of  the  implements 
used  by  them  in  carving 
their  wooden  images,  1 
judge  from  its  form,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  35,  was  me- 
tallic. 

i'''^=-  •'■»•  Cloth  is  usually  indi- 

cated by  cross-hatching,  as  shown  in  the  dresses  of  the  females  on  Plates 
XVIII*,  XIX*,  and  XX*;  rain  and  falling  water  by  slender,  usually  M'aved 
blue  lines,  as  on  Plates  XXIV-XXVII.  In  the  third  division  of  Plate 
XX*  the  lines  are  blue,  but  not  waved.  Blood  is  shown  by  slender, 
waved  red  lines,  as  in  the  upper  division  of  Plates  XXII  and  XVIII*. 

A  utensil  or  implement  is  represented  on  Plates  XXI*  and  XXII*  by 
a  figure  similar  to  our  Fig.  3f),  the  lower  end  always  black,  as  shown  in  the 
figure.     It  was   held  bv  the   middle   or  circular  portion,  the  fingers  of  the 


IMPLEMENTS  AND  SYMBOLS. 


133 


hand  being  thrust  through  tlie  hole.  I  am  unable  even  to  surmise  its  use. 
In  four  instances  it  stands  behind  a  priest,  who  is  in  a  squatting  posture  and 
appears  to  be  holding  bread  or  maize  in  his  hand  and  performing  some 
religious  ceremony.  In  two  instances  it  is  in  the  hand 
of  a  priest  clothed  in  black,  and  in  a  similar 
posture,  who  holds  it  in  front  of  him.  In  all 
cases  it  extends  as  high  as  the  top  of  the  head, 
and  the  curved  ends  turn  from  the  person. 

A  very  singular   implement  (Fig.    37)   is 
figured  in  the  tliird  division  of  Plate  XXIII*. 
Fit;.  3.5.  It   appears    from  the    figures    in  the  plate  to    i'"'"-  ^'^■ 

have  been  held,  while  in  ixse,  in  the  right  hand,  which  grasped  the  hoop 
at  a.  Its  use  can  only  be  guessed  by  the  connection  in  which  it  is  found. 
In  each  case  it  is  held  up  beside  a  tree,  which  appears  to  have  been  sev- 
ered at  the  point  immediately  opposite,  the  top  not  yet  fallen  down.  On 
the  severed  end  of  one  we  see  the  supposed  death  symbol.  From  these  facts 
I  infer  that  it  was  used  as  a  kind  of  saw,  though  it  is  i)ossible  it 
was  employed  in  peeling  the  bark  from  the  trees  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  their  wooden  idols.  If  used  as  a  saw,  which  I  think 
most  likely,  the  teeth  were  probably  flint  chips,  fastened  to  the 
hoop  by  strings  or  thongs.  A  fact  worthy  of  notice  is  that  the  F"'-  ^^• 
figure  immediately  following  (or  preceding)  these  in  the  third  division 
of  Plate  XXIV*  shows  the  use  of  the  machete  in  felling  trees,  but  here  the 
evident  intention  is  to  represent  a  much  larger  tree,  as  shown  by  the  diam- 
eter and  three  branches,  a  tree  also  of  a  different  species. 

An  implement  of  the  form  shown  in  Fig.  38  is  represented  in  the  mid- 
dle division  of  Plate  XXXI*.  As  this  appears  from  the  figure  f^^^^^g) 
in  the  plate  to  be  used  by  the  individual  in  whose  hands  it  is  a 

held  to  sever  the  cord  which  he  also  gi-asps,  I  pre- 
J  \  sume  it  is  a  cutting  instrument,  probably  of  flint. 

The  personage  represented  by  the  right-hand  figure  /t'--'-^  '-^S53) 
in  this  division  is  the  god  of  death,  and  the  death         kig.  3'.). 
symbol  is  in  the  same  coni])artnient;  therefore  it  is  jirasumable  that  the 


134 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO, 


whole  is  intended  as  a  symbolic  representation  of  death  cutting  the  thread 
of  human  life. 

On  Plate  XIX*,  and  elsewhere,  the  figures  on  which  the  individuals 
are  seated  are  marked  as  shown  in  our  Fig.  39".  According  to  Brasseur's 
interpretation  these  signify  "mats."  In  this  I 
think  he  is  undoubtedly  correct.  He  asserts  that 
Fig.  39''  also  denotes  a  mat,  but  this  I  think 
doubtful,  as  I  find  it  on  cords,  or  ropes,  and  on 
the  roofs  of  houses;  possibly  in  the  latter  case 
it  may  represent  a  kind  of  matting. 
Fig.  40.  Prisoners  are  usually  represented  here,  as  f,g.  41. 

in  the  Mexican  Codices,  with  their  long  hair  in  the  grasp  of  their  captors 
or  executioners. 

Fig.  40,  found  oil   Plate  XXV*,  probably  shows   the   form  either  of 
the  bat  used  in  playing  ball  or  of  a  fan.     Fig.    ^^\^^^^^ 
41,  copied  from  Plate  XX*,  undouljtedly  repre-   'Ty!^^^??^*' 
sents    one   of  their  bird-cages,  as  in   it,  in   the  fig.  4;i. 

original,  there  is  a  captive   bird.     The  opening  appears  to  have 
been  at  the  bottom.     To  the  top  were  attached  cords,  by  which 
to  carry  it. 
Fig.  42,  found  on  Plate  XXXIP,  and  elsewhere,  I  think 
represents  a  block  of  wood  to  be  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
an  idol  or  some  temple  implement.  Fig.  45. 

Fig.  43,  found  frequently  in  the  Manuscript,  is  doubtless  the  leaf 
of  the  mimosa  or  some  similar  plant.  Fig.  44 — see 
<^^(vO«'ff„,'^N  Plate  XXIX* — may  possibly  repre- 
sent a  kind  of  tapestry  or  curtain 
hung  over  the  doors  or  openings  of 
the  interior  rooms  of  the  temples.  ■ 
The  interlacing  and  the  square  notches 
at  the  bottom  show  that  it  is  some 
kind  of  cloth. 

Fig.  45,  found   so  frequently  on 
the  heads  of  individuals,  I  think,  as  heretofore  intimated,  is  a  time  symbol 


THOMAS]  IMPLEMENTS  AND  SYMBOLS.  135 

signifying  the  "tying  of  the  years,"  and    hence  a  period,  as  a  luster,  or 
Katun,  or  possibly  the  joining  of  two  years.  ^ 

The  conic  figure  (Fig  46),  always  found  in  the  mouth  of  an  individual, 
I  take  to  be  a  cigar  (cJiamal).  On  Plate  XXVI*  it  is  represented  with  the 
larger  end  black  at  the  tip,  and  red  behind  this  for  a  short  distance,  which, 
together  with  the  dotted  lines  representing  smoke,  show  that  it  is  on  fire.^ 

'  The  figure  is  not  exactly  correct,  as  it  shows  a  narrow  ring  at  the  end  of  the  cigar,  white,  with 
a  broader  black  ring  behind  it.  The  white  ring  should  be  black  and  the  black  ring  simply  shaded  to 
represent  the  red  portion. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  WRITTEN  CHARACTERS  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT. 

It  is  not  my  intention  at  present  to  enter  into  a  general  discussion  of 
the  ancient  Maya  writings,  as  this  will  be  found  in  the  introduction  by  Dr. 
Brinton.  On  the  contrary,  I  shall  confine  myself  as  strictly  as  possible  to 
an  examination  of  the  characters  found  in  this,  occasional  reference  to  the 
Dresden  Codex  and  the  inscriptions  on  the  ruins  being  made  only  for  com- 
parison and  illustration. 

The  interpretation  of  these  written  characters  is,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
the  chief,  though  not  the  only  object  of  our  research  and  examination. 
Although  my  progress  in  this  direction  has  been  limited,  yet  I  trust  the 
result  will  show  that  I  have  made  some  positive  advance. 

In  discussing  these  characters  there  are  some  preliminary  questions  to 
be  considered,  which,  if  satisfactorily  answered,  may  aid  us  in  the  attempt 
to  decipher  them : 

First.  The  direction  in  which  they  are  to  be  read. 

Second.  The  order  in  which  the  parts  of  the  compound  characters  are 
to  be  taken. 

Third.  Whether  they  are,  in  any  sense,  phonetic. 

THE    DIRECTION    JN    WUICII    THEY   ARE    TO    BE    READ. 

Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  influenced  by  the  direction  in  which  the 
figures  appear  to  bo  moving  and  in  which  the  faces  are  turned,  which,  in 
nearly  all  cases,  is  tow-ard  the  left,  concludes  that  the  writing  must  be  read 
by  lines  from  right  to  left,  and  by  columns  from  the  bottom  upward.  His 
attempt  at  deciphering  was  made  upon  this  theory,  which  I  believe  he  sub- 
sequently confessed  to  be  an  error,  although  still  retaining  his  theory  in 
reference  to  a  great  geological  cataclysm. 

Mr.  Bolloert^  followed  the  same  method,  reading  from  the  bottom 
upwards  and  from  right  to  left. 

'Exam,  of  Ccut.  Am.  Hicr.,  xi.  306. 


TnoMAs.)     ORDER  IN  WniOH  THE  CHARACTERS  ARE  TO  BE  READ.        137 


Dr.  Brinton^  suggested  reading  by  columns,  first  down,  then  up,  com- 
mencing with  the  right-hand  cohinm. 

Rosny  beHeves  the  characters  should  be  read  from  left  to  right. 

Wilson  believed  the  inscriptions  were  to  be  read  in  columns  from  top 
to  bottom,  and  the  manuscripts  from  left  to  right. 

Mr.  Holden  appears  to  have  an-ived  at  the  conclusion,  by  his  method 
of  examination,  that  the  inscriptions  are  to  be  read  from  left  to  right. 

It  is  pi-obable  that  no  conclusion  on  this  point  will  be  entirely  satisfac- 
tory until  the  characters  are  interpreted;  still  I  think  we  can  find  means  of 
determining  it  with  reasonable,  if  not  absolute,  certainty  without  waiting 
for  them  to  be  deciphered. 

The  large  character  at  the  upper  left-hand  corner  of  the  Palenque 
tablet  we  may  safely  assume  is  there  used  much  in  the  same  way  as  we 
use  capital  letters,  and  hence  that  the  inscription  is  to  be  read  either  in 
columns,  from  the  top  downwards,  or  in  lines,  from  left  to  right. 

But  we  find  more  direct  evidence  on  the  point  in  the  Manuscript  itself 
I  have  shown,  as  I  think  conclusively,  that  the  day  columns,  at  least, 
are  to  be  read  from  the  top  downwards.  The  natural  inference,  therefore, 
would  be  that  the  other  characters  are  to  be  read  in  the  same  way.  But 
there  are  good  reasons  for  believing  that,  although  the  usual  method  of 
writing  was  in  columns,  horizontal  lines  were  by  no  means  imcommon. 
Turning  to  Plate  XIV  (our  Fig\  16)  we  find,  in  the  middle  and  lower  divis- 
ions, a  series  of  columns  composed  of  the  same  characters,  except  the  ones 
at  the  top  and  at  the  bottom.  Three  of  these  colunms  may  be  represented 
by  letters,  thus: 


m. 

l>- 

n. 

b 

b 

b 

c 

c 

c 

a 

d 

d 

7 

12 

9 

f 

h 

e: 

'Ancient  Phouet.  Alphabet  of  Yucatau,  p.  G. 


138 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 


It  is  hardly  possible  that  this  should  be  read  in  lines,  as  in  this  case 
entire  lines  would  consist  of  a  single  character  repeated.  If  we  suppose 
these  groups  to  be  ritualistic  formulas,  as  they  probably  are,  and  to  be  read 
in  coluunis,  the  change  in  the  first  and  last  characters  would  be  consistent 
with  this  idea. 

Turning  to  the  lower  division  of  Plate  XV,  shown  in  Fig.  47,  we  find 


*m. 


the  characters  arranged  as  here  represented.  Here  are  two  short  columns 
on  the  right  and  two  on  the  left  (day  column  not  counted),  evidently  short- 
ened to  allow  space  for  the  figures  of  deer  which  are  inserted  there. 

Using  letters  to  illustrate,  repeating  those  that  represent  similar  char- 
acters, and  placing  as  in  the  plate,  we  have  this  arrangement.     In  order  to 


„ 

a 

h    ■ 

I 

in 

10 

a 

r 

n 

a 
r 

a 
r 

a 
r 

r 

s 

P 

K 

i 

make  m>-  meaning  clear  I  have  used  real  Avords:  First,  barn ;  second,  har}); 


THOMAS]     ORDER  IN  WHICH  THE  CHARACTERS  ARE  TO  BE  READ.       139 


third,  lark;  fourth,  mart;  fifth,  wars;  a  corresponding-  with  the  character 
1,  and  r  with  the  character  2. 

In  the  middle  and  lower  divisions  of  Plate  XIX  we 

^J  ■■  have  also  examples  of  this  method  of  changing  columns 

1.  2.         iiito  lines.     As  I  will  have  occasion  to  refer  to  this  plate  for 


"•^£-<,oCc.f  y 


140 


A  STUDY  OF  TBE  MANUSCKIPT  TROANO. 


other  purposes  the  two  divisions  are  copied  entire  in  Fig.  48.  In  each 
division  (not  counting  the  day  columns)  there  are  four  groups,  each  of  four 
compound  characters,  the  first  and  second  being  alike.  If  we  represent 
them  by  letters,  and  arrange  the  letters  in  the  same  order  as  the  characters, 


h     a 

h 

h 

a 

h 

r    k 

a 
n 

r 

1c 

a 
I 

d 

t 

they  would  stand  thus  in  the  middle  division  (the  upper  one  in  our  figure). 
We  see  by  this  that  the  first  and  third  columns  being  shortened  are  changed 
into  two  lines,  just  as  the  first  and  last  in  Fig.  47,  so  that  what  followed 
downwards  in  the  column  follow  from  left  to  right  in  the  lines.  Plates  VI*, 
XP,  XV*,  and  some  others  furnish  similar  examples. 

Although  we  cannot  claim  that  this  furnishes  absolute  proof  of  the 
direction  in  which  these  lines  and  columns  are  to  be  read,  yet  it  will  proba- 
bly satisfy  any  reasonable  mind  that  the  columns  are  to  be  read  from  the 
top  downwards,  following  each  other  from  left  to  right,  and  that  the  lines 
are  to  be  read  from  left  to  right,  following  each  other  from  the  top  down- 
wards; also  that  the  usual  method  is  in  columns. 

THK  ORDER  IN  WHICH  THE  PAKTS  OF  COMPOUND  CHARACTERS  ARE  TO  BE  TAKEN. 

This  and  the  other  question,  "Are  these  characters  in  any  sense  pho- 
netic?" are  so  intimately  connected  that  I  will  not  attempt  to  discuss  them 
se2:)arately. 

The  day  and  numeral  characters  have  already  been  given,  and  so  often 
referred  to  that  by  this  time  the  reader  must  be  familiar  with  them.  The 
characters  for  the  months,  as  found  in  Landa's  work,  have  also  been  given, 
and  it  only  remains  for  us,  therefore,  to  present  Landa's  hieroglyphics  of 
the  Maya  letters  (Fig.  49)  in  order  that  the  reader  may  have  before  him 
the  entire  key  with  whicli  we  have  to  work  in  our  attempt  to  decipher  the 
Maya  manuscripts. 

A  comparison  of  the  three  groups  of  characters   (days,  months,  and 


LANDA'S  LETTER  CHARACTERS 


141 


letters),  using'  the  significations  given  by  Landa,  will  sufiice  to  convince  any- 
one that  it  is  impossible  to  form  the  clay  from  the  letter  characters,  even 
allowing  the  widest  latitnde  in  the  representation  of  sounds. 

Take,  for  example,  the  character  for  IIuluc,  as  compared  with  those  for 
m  and  I;  Ahan,  as 
compared  with  those 
for  a,  h,  and  u;  Kan, 
as  compared  with  k 
and  n;  CJiicchan,  as 
compared  with  c,  h, 
and  n;  Ezanah,  as 
compared  wath  e,  z,  n, 
and  b,  &c. 

But  it  does  not 
necessarily  follow 
from  this  that  Landa 
was  wholly  mistaken. 
The  days  may  have 
retained  their  charac- 
ters as  symbols  from 
more  ancient  times, 
before  any  approach 
to  phonetic  elements 
had  been  made,    and  hence    might    not   present    any  of  these    elements. 

As  we  find  some  of  these  day  symbols  on  the  Palenque  Tablet,  which 
is  probably  much  older  than  the  Manuscript,  we  have  some  foundation  for 
this  supposition.  Another  ground  for  this  supposition  is  that  we  have  good 
reason  for  believing  that  some  at  least  of  these  characters  are  used  in  the 
Manuscript  and  Codex  as  denoting  something  quite  different  from  the  days 
they  represent,  or  that  which  the  name  of  the  day  signifies. 

Notwithstanding  tliis,  there  are  some  of  the  day  and  month  characters 
in  Avhicli  we  can  detect,  beyond  doubt,  some  of  the  letter  elements,  showing- 
them  to  be  to  a  certain  degree  at  least  phonetic.  For  example,  the  charac- 
ter for  Cauac  differs  but  slightly  from  that  for  cu  {qui);   Chuen  and   I'zec 


o-n_o 


n 


HA 


TI 


MA 

(cie,  mo?) 

Fig.  49. — Landa's  Maya  Alphabet. 


Sign  of 
Aspiration. 


142  A  STUDY  or  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

contain  tlie  main  elements  of  C;  Cimi  (Kimi)  those  of  k;  in  Pop  or  Poop 
(Poob)  we  see  the  character  for  h ;  in  Zac,  both  z  and  cu;  in  Cumhu,  cu  and 
some  elements  of  m;  in  Kay  eh,  k;  &c. 

Comparing  the  days  and  months  with  each  other,  we  can  occasionally 
detect  similar  elements  where  there  are  similar  sounds.  In  both  Chicchan 
and  Pax  we  see  the  interlacing,  or  cross-hatching,  and  in  both  the  sound 
ch:  in  Manik  and  Men  the  three  parallel  strokes,  possibly  m  or  n;  we  also 
observe  similar  strokes  in  Ymix. 

After  we  have  carried  this  comparison  to  its  utmost  extent  the  number 
of  cases  where  we  find  such  resemblances  in  form  where  there  is  a  similarity 
in  sound  are  so  few,  compared  with  those  in  which  we  do  not,  that  we  are 
forced  to  abandon,  at  least  to  a  great  extent,  the  attempt  to  decipher  the 
writings  of  the  Manuscript  by  the  use  of  these  letter  characters  upon  the 
theor}'  that  they  are  phonetic.  I  say  "to  a  great  extent,"  because,  as  we 
have  seen,  there  is  some  evidence  that  phonetic  elements  were  introduced 
to  a  limited  degree. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  remark  in  this  connection  that  in  all  the  attempts 
to  decipher  these  documents  which  have  thus  far  been  made,  one  very 
essential  part  of  Landa's  statement  has  been  too  lightly  passed  over,  and 
not  sufficiently  considered.  Speaking  of  the  Maya  writing,  he  says:  "The 
people  made  use  of  certain  characters  or  letters  with  which  they  wrote  down 
in  their  books  their  ancient  affairs  and  their  sciences,  and  by  means 
of  these  and  by  certain  figures,  and  by  particular  signs  in  these  figures, 
they  understood  their  affairs,  made  others  understand  them,  and  taught 
them.'" 

It  is  evident,  as  I  think,  from  this  language  that  Landa  does  not  wish 
to  convey  the  idea  that  the  native  writing  had  reached  sucli  a  degree  of  per- 
fection that  by  means  of  phonetic  characters  alone — or,  in  other  words, 
writing  in  the  true  sense — they  could  record  historical  facts  and  communi- 
cate with  each  other.  And  his  attempt  to  give  the  characters  for  their  letter 
sounds  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  contradiction  of  his  own  statement.  He  has 
undertaken  to  pick  out  of  their  compound  or  syllabic  characters  the  letter 

'  "Usavan  tambiun  esta  gcnte  dc^icrtos  carateres  o  letras  cou  las  quales  cscrivian  on  sus  libros 
siis  cosas  antiguas,  y  sus  sciencias,  y  con  ellas,  y  liguras,  y  algnnas  seuale.s  en  las  figuras  entendian  sns 
cosas,  y  las  davan  a  entendcr  y  onseuavan.     Landa,  Relacion  de  Coaas,  p.  316. 


TH0MA6.1  LANDA'S  LETTER  CHARACTERS.  143 

elements;  hence  it  is,  that  while  we  find  it  impossible  to  decipher  the  man- 
uscripts by  using  them,  yet  we  find  such  frequent  resemblances  as  to  com- 
pel us  to  admit  a  fundamental  relationship.  This  theory  I  think  is  borne 
out  by  his  attempt  at  explaining  their  method  of  spelling,  which  does  not 
correspond  with  anything  to  be  found  either  in  the  Troano  Manuscript  or 
the  Dresden  Codex,  nor  with  his  previous  statement,  which  I  have  quoted. 
Moreover,  his  own  language,  taken  in  connection  with  his  alphabet,  implies 
that  the  natives  with  whom  he  was  consulting  found  it  impossible  to  recom- 
bine  the  elements  he  had  picked  out  so  as  to  form  words. 

This  I  believe  to  be  the  true  explanation  of  his  letter  characters  and 
the  only  one  that  will  enable  us  to  understand  why  it  is  impossible  to  .read 
the  manuscripts  by  means  of  them,  and  yet  finding  them  so  often  agreeing 
with  the  characters  we  meet  with  in  these  works. 

The  day-characters  we  know  he  found  in  their  books,  as  we  see  abun- 
dant evidence  of  this  in  those  yet  in  existence. 

Although  the  month-characters  appear  to  be  wanting  in  the  Troano 
Manuscript  they  are  to  be  found  repeatedly  in  the  Dresden  Codex,  not 
always  in  the  form  given  by  Landa,  j^et  substantially  the  same,  and  accom- 
panied by  numerals  or  other  particulars  by  which  we  can  readily  determine 
them.  We  have,  then,  as  our  only  positive  gi>ide  to  start  with,  in  our 
attempts  at  deciphering  the  written  characters  of  the  Maya  manuscripts,  the 
day  and  month  symbols,  and  with  no  assurance  that  these  are  phonetic. 

If  there  ai'e  any  phonetic  elements  in  this  writing  they  must  be  discov- 
ered with  but  little  reliance  on  Landa's  letter  characters. 

As  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  the  day  and  month  characters  in 
all  cases  correspond  with  the  modern  names  applied  to  them,  we  must  bring 
every  other  possible  test  to  bear  in  determining  the  meaning  and  corre- 
sponding word.  We  have  also  to  proceed  upon  the  assumption  that  the 
language  of  the  Maimscript  is  the  same  as  that  found  in  the  Maya  lexicons 
which  have  been  given  to  the  world,  when  it  is  possible  that  it  is  in  a  dialect 
of  the  Maya  varying  from  that  in  the  lexicons. 

As  the  safest  basis  on  Avliich  to  found  my  arguments,  I  select  a  few 
characters,  the  meaning  of  which,  I  think,  can  be  ascertained  with  satis- 
factory certainty  without  having  to  decide  whether  they  ai'e  phonetic  or  not. 


144 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


This  character  (Fig.  50)  has  already  been  referred  to  as  occurring  on 
Plates  XX-XXIII  of  the  Manuscript  and  25-28  of  the  Codex,  and  as  being 
used  to  denote  the  "stone  heap"  on  which  the  Uayeb  idols 
were  placed.  The  reasons  given  for  this  belief  I  think  warrant 
me  in  assuming  it  to  be  correct.  Referring  to  the  Lexicon  we 
find  that  2} i^  signifies  "a  stone  serving  to  form  the  divisions  in  a 
Katun  or  cycle";  pjnc,  "stones  placed  one  upon  another,  serving 
to  count  tlie  intervals  in  a  cycle";  ppis,  "a  stone  on  a  fishing  line,"  and 
tun,  stone  in  a  general  sense.  As  the  connection  in  which  it  is  found  relates 
to  the  end  and  commencement  of  periods  of  time,  I  take  for  granted  that 
if  it  represents  a  word  it  is  either  the  first  (jn^)  or  second  (ppic). 

This  combination  (Fig.  51)  found  on  the  back  of  the  spotted  dog 
in  Plate  XXI,  appears  from  Landa's  statement,  as  already  shown,  to 
represent  "bread  of  maize."  The  usual  form  of  the  combination, 
Fig.  51.  which  is  found  very  often,  is  given  in  Fig.  52,  but  the  order  in  which 
the  characters  are  placed  is  frequently  the  reverse  of  that  given  in  the  figure. 

I  think  I  have  presented 
good  reasons  for  believing 
that  the  characters  shown  in 
Fig.  53  are  used  to  denote 
"east"  and  "west."  The  one 
marked  a  I  have  concluded  denotes  East — in  Maya  likin  or  lakin;  the  one 
marked  h,  West — chikm.  Whether  this  conclusion  be  correct  or  not,  I  think 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  one  denotes  one  of  these  cardinal  points,  and  the 
other  the  other  cardinal  point.  This  being  admitted, 
we  are  not  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  lower  part  of  these  compound 
characters,  as  it  must  be  the  hieroglyph 
for  kin,  ' '  sun  "  or  ' '  day."  *'"'•  - ''• 

The  characters  for  the  other  cardinal  points — north  and  south — 
are  given  in  Fig.  54.  As  there  is  yet  some  doubt  as  to  their  assign- 
ment I  pass  them  for  the  present,  allowing  the  conclusion  heretofore  reached 
in  reference  to  them  to  stand. 

The  character  shown   in  Fig.  55,  when  placed  on  a  figure,  denotes. 


THOMAS]  EXPLANATION  OF  SYMBOLS  AND  CHAEACTERS.  145 

sometimes  at  least,  che,  "wood"  in  a  general  sense,  or  some  particular  kind 
of  wood. 

As  the  character  shown  in  Fig.  56  is  placed  on  spear-heads,  evidently 
for  the  purpose  of  indicating  the  substance  of  which  they  are  composed,  or 
the  character  of  the  substance,  it  must  signify  "silex,"  ""\-%. 

or  hardness,  as  contrasted  with  the  wood  or  material  of  g^^^^^ 
Fig.  56.  which  the  shaft  was  composed.  Whether  Ezanah  was  vT^f^fv-' 
the  Maya  word  denoted,  is  not  certain.  Fig.  57. 

Fig.  67  is  found  but  once  in  the  Manuscript — in  the  upper  division  of 
Plate  IX.  As  it  is  above  the  figure  of  an  armadillo,  I  presume  it  is  the 
symbol  used  to  denote  that  animal,  and  hence  that  it  is  not  phonetic. 

Fig.  58  is  on  the  neck  of  most  of  the  vases  figured  in  the  work. 
f^ — mn — j5  Although  very  common  in  the  written  portion  as  ^^^^ 

Fig.  58.        a  prefix  or  sviffix  to  other  characters — as  shown  f^  y\s>/ 
in  Fig.  59,  where  it  is  probably  used  as  a  pronoun  or  article —  II*   w'ul  <nI 
when  found  on  these  vessels  I  take  for  granted  that  it  is  the       fig.  59. 
hieroglyph  for  u,  the  Maya  word  for  "vase,"  as  also  for  "month"  and  cei'- 
tain  pi-onouns. 

Using  these,  together  with  the  day  and  month  characters  as  a  key,  I 
will  proceed  to  discuss  the  nature  of  the  written  characters,  in  order  to 
decide,  if  possible,  whether  they  are  phonetic,  and,  if  so,  to  what  extent. 
That  some  of  them  are  but  symbols,  as,  for  example,  that  shown  in  Fig. 
57,  cannot  be  doubted.  It  is  also  quite  probable,  as  will  appear  in  the 
course  of  our  discussion,  that  a  few  are  simple  pictographs. 

As  the  one  shown  in  Fig.  50  is,  in  one  form  or  another,  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  both  works,  let  us  compare  these  on  the  supposition  that  they 
are  in  some  degree  phonetic,  and  see  what  the  result  will  be. 

Comparing  with  Landa's  character  for  the  month 
Pax  (Fig.  60),  we  observe  here  the  two  broad  perpen- 


dicular bars,  but  in  addition  thereto  three  little  rings 


Fig.  61. 


B-') 


or  ovals,  at  the  bottom,  and  a  cross-hatched  appendage  at  the  left.  The 
bars,  it  is  true,  are  not  solid  here,  but,  as  will  be  presently  seen,  this  differ- 
ence does  not  appear  to  indicate  a  difference  in  the  signification. 

10  M  T 


146  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOAm). 

On  Plate  70  of  the  Codex  the  character  shown  in  Fig.  61  occurs,  accom- 
panied, as  here  indicated,  by  the  numeral  character  for  "thirteen"  in  black. 
Tliere  is  little,  if  any,  room  to  doubt  that  this  is  here  used  to  denote  the 
month  Pax.  As  it  bears  no  resemblance  to  any  of  the  day  characters,  the 
accompanying'  numerals  would  certainly  lead  us  to  believe  it  denoted  one 
of  the  months,  and,  if  so,  the  one  named.  Another  reason  for  this  belief 
is  that  on  the  same  plate — in  fact,  in  the  next  line — are  the  characters  for 
Cumhu  and  Yaxkin,  each  accompanied  by  numerals.     But  in  this  case,  that 

for  the  former  (Cumhu)  is  given  thus:   */7rS^;  ^i^fl  that  for  Yaxkin    thus: 

•lj(^M/  ,  omitting  tlie  appendage  added  by  Landa.     Turning  to  Plate  fi9  of 

the  same  work,  we  observe  what  appears  to  be  the  same  character  in  the 

form  shown  in  Fig.  62.     Another  similar  figure  on  the  same  plate  has  the 

little  upper  circle  cross-hatched,  but  this  is  unaccompanied       ^^^ 

)|7  by  numerals,  though  there  is  another  by  the  side  of  it  as  in 

Fig.  63.     In  the  same  column  we  can  detect  without  doubt 

Fig.  62.    ^]jg  characters  for  the    months  Yaxkin,   Poop,  and    Mac.    ^^°'  ^^' 

On  Plates  VII*,  IX*,  and  XIX*  of  the  Manuscript,  what  appears  to 

be  the  same  s'S'mbol  occurs  in  the  form  shown  in  Fig.  64,  with  the  numeral 

Iae/ffl^k  character  for  five  annexed  in  two  cases  (Plates  VII*  and  IX*). 
^^fel^t  In  one  instance  four  bars  are  distinctly  shown,  but  in  the  one 
l^^irioi^  on  Plate  IX*  the  bar  to  the  right  is  solid ;  the  one  on  Plate 
Fig.  04.  VII*  is  as  represented  in  Fig.  G'i,  proving,  as  I  think,  that  this 
difference  has  no  material  significance.  Can  this  be  used  here  as  the  sym- 
bol of  the  month!  If  so,  it  is  the  only  month  symbol  I  have  been  able  to 
detect  in  the  Manuscript.  The  inference  is  therefore  strongly  against  this 
assumption.  The  first  two  (Plates  VII*  and  IX*)  occur  in  that  part  of  the 
Manuscript  which,  according  to  my  interpretation,  relates  to  the  festival  of 
the  Bee-keepers,  and  in  the  middle  division,  along  the  lower  margin  of 
which  we  see  what  are  evidently  intended  to  denote  offerings.  Among- 
them  in  one  place  immediately  below  the  character  there  are  two  groups, 
one  of  three  and  the  other  of  two  red  Kans  in  vases;  in  another  place  the 
leg  of  a  deer.  AVe  also  find  the  figure  of  a  deer's  leg  in  immediate  con- 
nection with  our  character  on  Plate  VII*.     The  Maya  name  for  a  tortilla 


THOMAS.)  INTERPRETATION  OF  CHAEACTERS.  147 

of  maize  is  |jec«(ff/«  (accoi'ding  to  Perez),  ox ppecuah  (according  to  Brasseur). 
May  we  not,  therefore,  witli  strong  probability  of  being  correct,  interpret 
this  character  as  above  given — "five  tortillas  of  maize" — supposing  it  to 
refer  to  an  offering!  If  so,  then  we  have  three  characters,  denoting  the 
three  words  x)pec  or  pec,  Pax,  and  pccnah  or  ppccuah,  in  which  the  double 
bars  occur,  which  doubtless  represent  the  labial  element  p,  or  pp,  if  they  are 
phonetic.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  in  this  connection,  that  pacacli,  accoi'ding 
to  Perez,  also  signifies  "a  tortilla  of  maize,"  and  palach,  "to  make  tor- 
tillas of  maize."  It  is  probable,  therefore,  i\\?ii  pecuali,  when  spoken,  termi- 
nated with  the  sound  of  ch. 

Turning  to  Plate  XXXI,  first  and  second  divisions,  where  the  method 
of  planting  maize  is  indicated,  we  find  this  charaater  (Fig.  65)  forming  a 
part  of  the  head-dress  worn.    As  I  have  already  suggested,      /^^ 
this  is  probably  the  hieroglyph  for  the  Maya  ppoc,  "hat"      ^^^ 
Fig.  65.    or  "head-covering." 

Assuming  that  I  am  correct  in  these  interpretations,  we  have  then  the 
characters  for  four  words — ppec  or  pjec,  Pax,  pecuah  or  ppecuah,  and  ppoc — 
in  which  the  two  perpendicular  bars  occur,  which,  in  all  prol)ability, 
represent  the  labial  element  p  or  pp,  if  they  are  phonetic.  The  typical 
form  of  the  whole  character  probably  represents  the  syllable  p'c  or  p'ch. 

Fig.  GQ  represents  the  interlaced  or  cross-hatched  character. 

The  character  for  Chicchan,  as  given  by  Landa,  is  represented  in  Fig.  67. 
In  the  Manuscript  it  is  most  frequently  of  the  form  shov/n  in  Fig.  68. 
These,  as  will  be  seen,  consist  of  two  parts,  the  check- 
ered portion  and  the  loops  or  blocks,  and  the  word  of 
Fig.  67.      two  principal  phonetic  elements,  ch  and  n.  vir,.  68. 

Referring  again  to  the  symbol  for  Pax  (or  Pash,  as  the  Maya  x  has  the 
sound  of  sh,  or  ch,  in  machine),  we  see  that  the  checkered  portion  is  at  the 
/(//,  while  in  that  for  Chicchan  it  is  at  the  rifjht.  As  ch  is  the  only  phonetic 
element  common  to  both  words,  and  the  cross-hatching  the  only  jiortion 
common  to  both  figures,  we  may  assume  as  probable  that  this  character 
repi'esents  the  hissing,  or  ch,  sound  of  the  two  words.  Turning  now  to  the 
Maya  lexicon,  we  find  that  chichan  signifies  "little,"  "slender,"  "thin,"  &c.; 
tzi,  which  has  a  slightly  harder  hissing  sound,  signifies  "anything  that  is 


148  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

very  little,  slender,  thin,  or  slim";  tzil,  "divided,  separated,  torn,  rent," 
&c.;'t2ulche,  "trellis,  lattice-work,  barred,"  &c.;  tzic,  "to  part,  cut,  divide," 
&c.;  tzack,  "to  cut  fine,  to  hash,"  &c;  dzil,  "to  work  mosaic,  to  weave, 
plait,"  &c. ;  all  of  which  are  words  that  have  the  hissing  sound  as  their 
chief  phonetic  element. 

On  Plates  II,  III,  VI,  and  elsewhere  we  see  the  figure  of  the  red- 
mouthed  god,  which  we  can  scarcely  doubt  is  Chicchac-chob.  On  the  head- 
dress in  the  three  plates  designated  is  this  same  interlaced  figure. 

On  Plate  XXV,  lower  division,  is  the  figure  of  a  serpent  with  rattles, 
to  which  allusion  has  hei'etofore  been  made,  which  is  marked  with  checkei-ed 
or  cross-hatched  spots;  tzahcan,  in  Maya,  signifies  "a  sei-pent  with  rattles"; 
see  also  the  serpent  in  ijie  lower  division  of  Plate  V.  We  also  see  that  the 
apron,  and  appendage  hanging  between  the  limbs,  is  marked  in  the  same 
way,  possibly  denoting,  as  heretofore  suggested,  ziJdl,  "birth,"  as  the  design 
appears  to  be  to  symbolize  the  birth  of  the  storm-cloud. 

I  suggest  as  possible  that  the  characters  in  the  hand  of  the  left  figure, 
upper  division,  Plate  XXX*,  one  of  which  is  the  reticulated  figure,  the 

other  that  of  Cauac,  may  denote  caiiche,  the  cultivated 
"S^-liP  cocoanut.     One  reason  for  this  supposition  is  that  thef^^*«»*'j 


figure  in  the  other  hand  (Fig.  69)  appears  to  be  thel[l..)lit^^ 
Fig.  69.    hiei-oglyphic  for    otnal,    "bread,"  especially  a  certain     fig.  70. 
kind  of  flat  tortilla,  used  in  sacrificial  offerings. 

In  the  middle  and  lower  divisions  of  Plate  XIX  we  find  the  character 
shown  in  Fig.  70,  occuning  several  times. 

The  figures  in  the  spaces  appear  to  be  grinding  paint  in  stone  and 
earthenware  mortars.  The  pestle  is  straight,  rather  slender,  and  cylindri- 
cal in  form,  and  is  grasped  by  both  hands.  I  venture  the  suggestion  that 
the  circle  of  dots  with  the  little  oval  in  the  center,  indicates  that  the  pestle 
is  to  be  turned  or  whirled  round,  and  the  changed  direction  of  the  curves 
denotes  to  the  right  and  left,  or  first  one  way  and  then  the  other.  The 
cross-hatching  indicates  a  word  with  the  sound  of  ch,  iz,  or  z.  As  tending 
to  confirm  this  suggestion,  we  find,  by  reference  to  the  Maya  lexicon,  that 
dzic  and  dzical  (adjectives)  signify  "left,"  and  dziical,  "left  hand."  (See 
Fig.  48,  p.  139.) 


INTERPRETATION  OF  CHARACTERS. 


149 


Referring  to  Plate  XXIII*,  we  find  in  the  middle  compartment  of  the 
upper  division  the  figure  and  characters  represented  in  Fig.  71. 

Tlie  lower  line  of  the  inscription  over  the 
figure  consists  of  three  characters,  Avhich  I  interpret 
as  follows: 

Chelizic  u  calial :  "Consumes  (or  destroys)  his 
(or  the)  dwelling."     , 

The  eye  and  snout  in  the  left-hand  character, 
translated  "consumes,"  I  pi'esume  imply  that  this  is 
done  by  the  Chac.  The  parts  of  this  compound  char- 
acter are  taken  in  the  same  order  as  the  others  here- 
tofore interpreted ;  that  is,  from  right  to  left ;  those  of 
the  third,  translated  '■'■dwelling,''^  from  below  upwards. 

It  is  possible  that  the  left-hand  character  should  ^  ^°-  ^^" 

be  rendered  zatzic,  which  has  the  same  signification  as  cheJizic,  and  also 
has  the  two  hissing  sounds,  indicated  by  the  interlaced  portion. 

If  I  am  correct  in  my  rendering  of  the  right-hand  character,  it  will 
probably  enable  us  to  determine  this  one  (Fig.  72),  which  is  often  used  in 
the  Manuscript.  I  suggest  oholiba,  "  prayer,"  and,  with  the  nu- 
meral, "three  prayers."  But  it. is  possible  that  the  true  render-  ^ 
ing  is  ocol  which,  according  to  Perez,  signifies,  when  joined  to  ® 
a  number,  the   coui'se  or  order,  as  of  priesthood.  fig.  72. 

Adopting  these  suggestions,  we  would  translate  the  characters  in  the 
upper  right-hand  corner  of  the  middle  division,  Plate 
VIP,  Fig.  73,  thus: 

a.  b.  c.  d. 

5  ppecuah  okoltba  hate  (?) 

"Five    tortillas  of  maize,  three    prayers,  the  leg  of  a 
deer,  ?",  or,  "Five  tortillas  of  maize,  the  third  priest 
(or  priest  of  the  third  order?),  the  leg  of  a  deer."     I 
prefer  the  first  rendering,  as  the    character   marked  h  frequently  occurs 
without  the  numeral  where  the  second  interpretation  would  not  apply. 

Fig.   74,  which  is  precisely  like  that  for  Caban  as  usually  given  in 
the    Manuscript,  is  found  on    several  plates  and    also    frequently  in  the 


150 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


Codex;  sometimes  on  the  bench  or  form  on  which  persons  are  seated  or 
lying—see  Plates  XXXII,  XXXIII,  XXV*,  XXXIV*,  &c.;  on  the  blocks  or 
square  figures  on  Plates  II*  to  X*  which  relate  to  the  festival  of  the  apia- 
rists; on  the  foundation  or  substance 
^  Y  &)    ^  ^  Y)|      f^^^^\  ^"*'  ^^  which  plants  and  vines  arise, 
"^  •'   3 — LLJ-^      ^'-       '     ^f  as  on  Plates  XXXII    and    XXXIII; 

o  b 

Fig-  ~4.  and  as  a  character  into  which  the  ma- 

chete or  hatchet  is  thrust  (Plate  XXIV*).  In  the  Codex  it  is  found  on  the 
wall  and  base  of  what  appears  to  be  a  kind  of  house,  or  a  niche  in  a  temple 
(Plates  £0  and  67);  on  seats  or  benches,  and  in  one  instance  on  something 
laid  on  a  pyramidal  altar,  on  which  a  human  head  is  placed,  having  the 
"dead  eye,"  as  though  representing  the  act  of  cremation.  It  is  evident 
that  no  one  substance  can  be  indicated  in  all  these  places. 

On  the  plates  relating  to  the  bee-keepers'  festival,  where  it  is  figured 
thus  (Fig.  75),  as  on  Plate  VIII*,  the  block  or  vessel  is  red,  or  marked  with 
a  red  border,  is  suspended  by  cords,  and  a  bee  is 
placed  across  it.  Here  it  is  probable  that  it  should 
be  interpreted  cab,  "honey,"  or  cabnal,  "bee-hive." 
But  this  explanation  will  not  answer  in  one  out  of 
a  hundred  of  the  other  places  where  it  is  used. 

Where  it  marks    the    substance  out  of  Avhich 
I'iG.  "•').  plants  arise,  as  on  Plates  XXXII  and  XXXIII,  it 

is  probably  used  to  signify  the  earth  or  soil.  We  find  by  reference  to  the 
lexicons  that  cab  has  also  as  one  of  its  significations  "earth"  or  "soil,"  and 
that  cahal  signifies  "at  the  foot,"  "at  the  foundation,"  "at  or  on  the  ground," 
&c.  This  will  furnish  explanation  of  all  those  cases  where  "earth,"  "ground," 
or  "soil"  is  applicable,  or  where  it  is  on  that  out  of  which  plants  grow  and 
on  which  persons  are  seated  or  lying.  In  the  lower  division  of  Plate 
XXXII  are  the  figures  of  four  seats  or  forms  similar  in  outline  to  that 
shown  at  a,  Fig.  74, ;  two  are  marked  with  the  character  interpreted  ppec, 
or  "stone,"  and  two  with  the  character  represented  at  a,  Fig.  74.  If  two 
are  stone,  as  we  have  good  reason  for  believing,  the  others  must  be  wood 
or  earth.     The  tact  that  persons  are  represented  lying  down  at  full  length 


TiioMAB.]  ESTTEEPEETATION  OF  CHARACTERS.  151 

upon  this  chai'acter  furnishes  a  strong  reason  for  believing  it  should  in  such 
cases  be  rendered  "earth." 

Turning  to  Plate  XXIV*,  we  observe,  in  the  third  division,  the  figure 
of  a  large  brown  tree,  and  a  person  standing  by  with  hatchet  in  hand 
in  the  act  of  cutting;  in  the  inscription  immediately  above  is  Fig.  76. 
There  can  be  little,  if  any,  doubt  that  this  refers  to  cutting  into  the 
tree.  The  Caban  character  may  signify  a  particular  species, 
but  I  think  it  more  than  probable  the  word  denoted  is  cabal,  "at 
the  foot  or  base,"  "at  the  ground";  and  that  the  proper  rendering 
is  "cut  with  a  hatchet  at  the  base,"  or  "at  the  ground."  The  cut  i^'^.  76. 
or  opening  at  the  base  of  the  brown  tree  appears  to  correspond  with  this 
interpretation,  especially  as  the  tree  to  the  right  in  the  same  division  is 
severed  at  a  short  distance  above  the  base. 

If  my  rendering  of  this  character,  in  the  different  uses  to  which  it  is 
applied,  be  correct,  it  must  be  to  some  extent  at  least  phonetic. 

On  the  wall  and  base  of  the  dwelling,  or  whatsoever  it  may  be,  on 
Plate  (30)  of  the  Codex,  it  is  probably  used  to  denote  that  it  is  earthen, 
or  plastered. 

This  character  is  closely  allied  to  the  symbol  for  the  day  Cih  (Kib), 
which  is  usually  given  thus  in  the  Manuscript  (Fig.  77).     In 
each  of  the  words  we  have  the  sound  of  h  and  h,  but  one  of  the 
characters  has  a  line  of  dots  that  is  wanting  in  the  other.     The 
inner   line    and    the    little    cross -marks    usually   found   in    Cih     ^^°-  "''• 
in  the   Manuscript,   and    represented    in    Fig.   77,    do    not   appear   to   be 
essential. 

The  character  represented  in  Fig.  78  occurs  in  the  middle      j- i  ii  j| 
division  of  Plate  V.  E  |^^^ 

As  the  figures  in  the  spaces  probably  represent  traveling       fig.  is. 
merchants,  it  is  possible  that  this  should  be  rendered «( fteom — the  "traveler" 
or  "merchant." 

The  third  division  of  Plate  XXIX  (the  lower  of  the  two  shown  in 
Fig.  79),  is  divided  into  four  compartments,  each  with  its  figure  and 
superscription,  the  latter  consisting  of  four  compound  characters  in  each 


152  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TROANO. 

case.     Commencing'  with    the  upper   extreme    left-hand  character,  let  us 


complete  it  (as  the  lower  part — the  loop — appears  to  be  imperfect)  thus: 

K^^lj}  This  will  make  the  whole  character  the  same  as  the  third  and 
fourth  to  the  right  in  the  same  line.  Tlie  order  in  wliich  they  are  to  be 
taken  I  presume  is  as  follows:  First,  the  upper  line  over  one  figure,  from 
left  to  right,  then  tlie  next  line  below  in  the  same  order;  next,  the  grou]) 
over  the  next  figure  in  the  same  way;  and  so  on,  counting  tlie  groups  from 
left  to  right. 

We  observe  that  the  lower  left-hand  character  of  the  first  or  left-hand 
group  is  the  head  of  a  bird,  and  also  that  a  bird  is  in  the  figure  below;  that 
the  lower  right-hand  compound  character  also  contains  a  distorted  head, 


THOMAS]  INTEEPEETATIOiSr  OF  CHARACTERS.  153 

somewhat  human  in  appearance,  bvit  which  may  be  intended  to  denote  the 
quadruped  in  the  figure  below ;  that  the  lower  riglit-hand  character  of  the 
third  group,  although  showing  teeth,  may  be  intended  as  the  symbol  of  the 
worm-like  figure  beneath. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  and  also  of  the  additional  facts  that  the  right- 
hand  group  contains  no  animal  head,  nor  is  there  below  the  figure  of  any 
animal,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  these  three  heads  are  but  symbols  of 
the  animals  below  them.  We  also  observe  that  the  figures  are  placed  on 
Caban  characters,  and  that  each  group  of  the  superscription  contains  a 
Cuban  character,  all  doubtless  having  reference  here  to  the  earth  or  soil. 
If  the  figures  with  the  two-colored  face  denote  growing  maize,  as  the 
attacks  of  the  bird  and  quadruped  indicate,  we  then  have  strong  reasons 
for  believing  that  the  characters  refer  to  the  figures  beneath  them.  I  may 
also  add  here,  what  is  stated  elsewhere,  that  as  a  rule  animals,  persons,  and 
deities,  or  at  least  idols,  appear  to  be  generally  represented  among  the 
characters  by  the  head;  hence  such  characters  cannot  be  phonetic. 

A  study  of  the  two  groups  similarly  arranged  on  the  right  of  the  lower 
division  of  Plate  III*  satisfies  me  that  they  relate  to  the  method  of  dealing 
with  a  swelling  on  the  hand,  caused  probably  by  the  sting  of  a  bee  or  some 
other  insect,  or  the  bite  of  a  serpent  (observe  the  serpent's  head  on  the 
figure  below).  We  see  here  the  figure  of  .a  hand  in  two  places,  and  on 
each  a  protuberance  or  swelling  distinctly  marked  (Fig.  80.)  By 
the  side  of  each  is  Fig.  81,  which  ^  ,«0sa^ 

is  probably  the  hieroglyph  for  the    \:~~"     j  m^^-j)  ""  io^o 

Maya  words  m-oto,  "a  swelling  of     fig.  to.  fig.  hi.  Fig.  82. 

the  flesh,"  or  "tumor."  The  next  character  in  order  is  the  one  shown  in 
Fig.  82,  which  may  be  interpreted  u-cah-poc,  "bathe  or  wash  it  witli  honey." 
The  chai'acter  in  the  hand  of  the 
figure  immediately  under  the  in-  llxi 
scription  appears  to  agree  with  this     \jj}/ 

interpretation  (see  Fig.  83):   Cah-    ^'°- ^3.  fig.64.  i  .g.  .5. 

men  {min  or  7non).  Min  signifies  that  which  diminishes  or  causes  to  grow 
less;  mon,  the  same;  and  moncab  (same  as  momcah),  a  cooling  or  soothing 


154 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIl'T  TROANO. 


wasli.^     The   hand  here    figured   I  take    to   be  simply  a  pictorial  repre- 
sentation. 

The  characters  in  the  I'ight-hand  compartment  of  the  middle  division 
of  the  same  plate,  I  think  probably  relate  to  the  ofterings  of  honey  and 
tortillas  for  the  dead. 


^■totoJ'ts  C^/yy 


The  character  represented  in  Fig.  84,  found  so  frequently  on  Plates  I* 
to  X*  and  elsewhere,  may  denote  pieces  of  honey-comb,  or  a  kind  of  drink 
made  of  honey,  as  Brasseur  says  (note  in  Landa's  Relacion),  "  honey  that 
has  passed  into  the  state  of  hydromel,  which  was  their  ordinary  Avine." 

'  I  follow,  ill  most  cases,  the  interpretation  given  by  Brassenr  in  Iiis  Maya  lexicon,  and  make  uo 
attempt  to  give  obli(iiio  forms,  as  my  knowleilge  of  the  Maya  language  is  too  limited  for  this. 


TiioMABi  INTEEPRETATIOiSr  OF  CHAEACTERS.  155 

As  heretofore  stated,  I  have  conduded  that  Fig.  85  signifies  liUn, 
"east,"  "eastward,"  "at  or  toward  the  east";  literally  "the  rising  sun." 
If  this  is  correct,  then,  as  before  intinnated,  the  lower  character  with  the 
alar  appendage  must  represent  the  latter  syllable  Idn,  "sun"  or  "day" ; 
and  the  upper,  the  first,  U,  derived  from  likil,  "to  arise,"  "to  be  lifted  up 
or  elevated." 

Turning  to  Plate  XX*  we  see  in  the  third  division  the  figures  of  four 
females,  each  apparently  engaged  in  sprinkling  water  on  a  child  in  front  of 
her  (Fig.  >■  6).  Above  them  are  two  rows  of  characters,  apparently  grouped 
by  fours  (counting  each  compound  character  as  one),  two  of  the  upper  and 
two  of  the  lower  line  to  each  female  figure.  In  the  first  group  to  the  left 
is  the  character  I  have  heretofore  interpreted  as  signifying  west;  immedi- 
ately to  the  right  of  it,  in  the  same  group,  is  this  character  (Fig.  87).  In 
the  second  group  is  the  character  heretofore  interpreted  as  signi- 
fying north,  but  with  an  arm-like  appendage;  immediately  below 
it,  in  the  same  group,  is  the  character  shown  in  Fig.  87;  the  third 
group  has  the  character  for  east  and  this  also;  and  the  fourth  or  Fig.  87. 
last  group  to  the  right  the  same  character  (Fig.  87),  and  that  heretofore 
interpreted  as  denoting  south. 

As  we  find  the  same  character  in  Fig.  87  as  in  Fig.  85,  we  may  assume 
it  stands  for  the  same  sound,  U,  and  accepting  Brasseur's  interpretation  of 
the  lower  left-hand  character  as  signifying  M  or  liaa,  "water,"  and  the  added 
character  to  the  right  as  Landa's  i,  we  have  li-ha-i  or  lila-i,  "to  sprinkle  the 
child  with  water,"  lila  meaning  "to  sprinkle  witli  water,"  and  i  child.  As 
lil  signifies  "to  shake,"  "to  toss,"  &c.,  a  better  rendering  may  be  haa-lil  i, 
"the  water  shake  (or  dash)  on  the  child." 

Commencing  with  the  left-hand  group  and  taking  the  four  characters 
in  the  order  heretofore  adopted,  the  upper  two  from  left  to  right  and  then, 
tlie  lower  two  in  the  same  way,  and  taking  the  groups  from  left  to  right,  I 
obtain  the  following  result: 

First  group:  "Toward  the  west;  sprinkle  water  on  the  child ;  ( ?); 

tortillas." 

Second  group:  "Toward  the  north;  ( ?);  sprinkle  water  on  the 

child;  ( ?)." 


156  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

Third  group :  "Toward  the  east;  sprinkle  water  on  the  child ;  ( ?); 

tortillas." 

Fourth  group:  "Toward  the  south,  {icliintzali)  give  a  bath;  ( ?); 

sprinkling  water  on  the  child." 

This  character  (Fig.  88),  found  in  the  first,  second,  and  fourth  groups, 
I  am  unable  to  interpret.     The  larger  right-hand  portion  may  be  a  variant 
of  chicchan,  and  the  whole  stand  for  the  words  a  or  ii 
.^^^^  chicJtan,  "a  little,"  or  ha-chen,  "water  from  the  senote 
or  well" 

Fig.  se.  The  third  character  in  the  third  group  (Fig.  89)      ^'*'-  ^^• 

is  also  one  I  have  been  unable  to  interpret.  The  smaller  figures  to  the  left 
may  possibly  denote  the  words  ca-chuc,  "a  cuff"  or  "blow."  The  peculiar 
eye  in  the  right  portion  I  think  refers  to  some  particular  deity. 

I  am  aware  that  this  interpretation  of  these  groups  hangs  on  a  very 
slender  thread  which,  if  broken,  lets  the  whole  thing  fall  to  the  ground,  and 
hence  have  given  it  with  a  feeling  of  considerable  doubt.  But  the  four 
similar  figures  and  the  symbols  of  the  cardinal  points  agree  very  well  with 
this  conclusion. 

As  I  have  already  intimated,  there  are  good  reasons  for  believing  that 
the  compound  character  shown  in  Fig.  90  denotes  "bread  of  maize"  or 
"corn  bread."  As  will  be  seen,  this  consists  of  the 
characters  for  Imix  (or  Ymix)  and  Kan;  as  ixim  signi- 
fies "maize,"  we  may  assume,  without  great  liability  \uiC/  \Jjj\ 
Fig.  90.  of  being  in  error,  that  this  is  the  equivalent  of  Imix.  ^°-  ^^■ 

But  I  am  inclined  to  believe  the  latter  symbol  (that  for  Kan)  is  used  not 
only  to  denote  bread  (tortillas),  but  that  in  the  pictorial  portion  it  is  also 
frequently  given  to  represent  corn  (maize). 

The  combination  shown  in  Fig.  91,  and  found  so  frequently  on  the 
plates  of  the  Manuscript  and  Codex,  probably  denotes  "cakes"  or  "two 
cakes,"  or  "tortillas  of  maize."  The  two  are  found  combined  as  in  Fig. 
90  and  with  the  accompanying  characters  on  Plate  III*. 

Turning  to  Plates  VIII*  and  IX*  of  the  Manuscript,  we  notice  along 
the  lower  border  of  the  middle  division  what  are  evidently  ofierings:  some 
ai-e  pictorial  representations  and  some  perhaps  symbols;  among  these  we 


THOMAS]  INTEEPRETATION  OF  CHAEACTEES.  157 

see  vessels  of  different  kinds,  on  which  are  Kan  symbols  of  a  i-eddish  or 
orange  color.  As  heretofore  stated,  we  find  over  one  of  the  groups  (left 
side  of  Plate  IX*),  a  character  accompanied  by  the  numeral  five,  which  I 
have  supposed  denotes  the  Maya  word  ppecuah,  pecuah,  or  2^<^cach,  "a  tortilla 
of  maize."  That  these  symbols  could  have  no  legitimate  signification,  if 
interpreted  by  any  of  the  meanings  of  Kan  found  in  the  lexicon,  is  appar- 
ent to  any  one.  The  fact  that  they  are  in  vessels — in  one  case  a  vase 
with  the  usual  vase  mark,  in  another  a  kind  of  platter,  &c. — indicates 
that  they  are  ofi'erings  that  can  be  appropriately  presented  in  vessels  of 
this  kind. 

In  the  lower  division  of  Plate  XXI  we  observe  a  bird  in  the  act  of 
eating  one  of  these  Kan  characters.  Although  this  is  probably  a  symbolic 
representation  relating  to  time,  still  the  figure  itself  is  intended  as  a  repre- 
sentation of  that  which  is  used  as  the  symbol — a  bird  eating  something, 
doubtless  corn  or  bread. 

On  Plate  XXVIII,  second  and  fourth  divisions,  we  notice,  as  I  have 
previously  stated,  the  figure  of  a  deity,  which  probably  signifies  the  earth, 
looking  up  in  a  supplicating  manner,  bearing  in  his  hands,  or  in  the  hands 
of  the  little  figures  he  holds,  Kan  symbols.  As  there  is  good  reason  for 
believing  these  are  symbolic  representations  of  the  parched  earth  pleading  for 
rain,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  Kan  characters  here  denote  corn  or 
maize.  This  supposition  is  rendered  almost  certain  by  the  fact  that  the  one 
in  the  right  hand  of  the  lower  figure  presents  a  little  opening  blade  or  leaf, 
showing  that  it  has  been  planted  and  is  sprouting;  in  the  other  hand  is  the 
bread  symbol. 

The  two  combined,  or  the  Kan  singly,  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  hands  of  the  priests  in  the  Manuscript,  where  apparently  engaged  in 
religious  ceremonies.  The  kans  in  the  baskets  carried  by  females  (lower 
divisions  of  Plates  XIX*  and  XX*)  I  have  already  alluded  to;  there  can 
be  scarcely  any  doubt  that  here  they  signify  corn  or  bread,  more  likely  the 
former.  I  think  it  quite  likely  that  here,  and  where  not  in  the  written  por- 
tion, these  figures  have  more  the  character  of  pictograjihs  than  hieroglyphics, 
as  they  are  both  tolerably  fair  representations  of  a  grain  of  maize. 


158  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

Fig.  92,  copied  from  the  upper  division  of  Plate  IX,  is,  I  think,  beyond 
fy^^!^  doubt  the  symbol  for  the  armadillo  figured  in  the  same  division. 
C^^tl  There  are   characters    somewhat   closely  resembling  it  found  in 
Fig.  9-2.      Other  parts  of  the  Manuscript,  but  none  of  them  have  the  pos- 
terior border  of  scale-marks,  and  at  the  same  time  the  peculiar  eye  that  is 
used  throughout  the  Manuscript  to  mark  quadrupeds. 

Fig.  93,  which  has  for  its  only  characteristic  the  same  figure  as  Landa's 
ca,  is  found  frequently  in  the  Manuscript,  so  placed  as  to  lead  me  to  believe 
^_____^    it  represents  some  fruit  or  vegetable  product   that  is  useful  as 
A^  -^fm^j  food,  or  in  some  other  way  in  domestic  life,  and  that  was  also 
'  considei'ed  an  appropriate  ofFering  to  the  gods. 

Fig.  9.3.  Yqv  example,  we  see  it  carried  in  baskets  by  women — lower 

division  of  Plates  XIX*  and  XX*;  in  the  hand  of  the  bird  figure — middle 
division,  Plate  II;  in  the  hands  of  the  priest,  apparently  as  an  offering,  on 
a  number  of  plates;  on  the  back  of  figures  representing  persons  traveling — 
Plate  V;  marked  on  (as  though  denoting  something  in)  a  vase — lower  divis- 
ion, same  plate;  in  the  symbol  of  the  day  Cimi;  and  also  in  Landa's  char- 
acter for  k. 

I  presume  from  these  facts  that,  if  phonetic,  the  word  or  syllable  it 
represents  has  as  its  chief  phonetic  element  the  sound  of  k.  As  the  Maya 
word  ca  signifies  a  species  of  squash  or  calabash  used  for  food  in  Yucatan, 
I  presume  this  is  what  it  denotes  in  tliese  pictorial  representations,  especially 
as  this  interpretation  does  not  appear  to  be  inconsistent  with  "its  use  in  any  of 
them.  But  that  it  also  has  other  significations  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  it 
is  found  in  Cimi,  and  also  as  an  eye-mark.  The  same  idea  is  doubtless 
embraced  in  both,  that  is,  "death,"  and  the  chief  phonetic  element  k. 

In  close  relation  to  this,  and  which  should  be  considered  with  it,  is  the 

character  represented  in  Fig.  94.     Brasseur  has  taken  it  througliout  as  one 

fomn  of  the  Cimi  symbol;  but  there  are  some  reasons  for  believing 

there  is,  at  least,  a  slight  difference  in  the  signification  of  the  two, 

as  on  Plates  XIX*  and  XX*,  in  the  basket  of  the  woman  at  the  left, 

tiG.  94.  ^^  ggg  both  characters.     As  the  other  burdens  are  represented  by 

the  duplication  of  one  character,  the  bringing  of  these  two  together  here 

shows  their  close  relationship  to  each  other.     It  is  also  worthy  of  notice 


xnoMAs.)  INTERPRETATION  OF  CHARACTERS.  159 

that  the  relative  position  of  the  two  is  exactl)^  the  reverse  on  one  plate 
from  what  it  is  on  the  other. 

-  As  the  burdens  of  two  of  these  females  evidently  consist  of  their  house- 
hold gods,  it  is  possible  that  those  of  the  two  just  alluded  to  may  consist 
of  the  bones  of  their  dead.  If  so,  Fig.  94  may  represent  the  skull  and  the 
Cimi  symbol  the  other  bones.  In  the  inscription  above  the  hSad  of  the  left- 
hand  female,  lower  division  Plate  XX*,  we  find  this  character  (Fig.  95), 
which,  according  to  the  explanation  of  the  parts  so  far  as  given, 
should  probably  be  interpreted  (reading  from  right  to  left)  ^^,^n<1| 
cimen-ich,  "the  dead  children."  In  this  interpretation  the  right-  i^^*"^^^ 
hand  character  is  given  its  usual  signification;  the  reticulated  i'ig- 95. 
portion,  ch;  and  the  two  lines  running  upward  from  this,  i.  Still  it  is 
possible  that  this  explanation  is  very  wide  of  the  mark,  as  these  charac- 
ters may  represent  certain  fruits  or  other  articles  of  food,  perhaps  different 
kinds  of  calabashes. 

The  character  represented  in  Fig.  96  is  very  closely  related  to,  if  not 
a  variant  of,  the  Cimi  symbol.     It  is  found' very  frequently  through- 
out the  Manuscript  in  the  spaces  containing  the  figures  or  pictorial 
representations.     As  in  a  large  proportion  of  these  cases  the  figures    fig.  %. 
have  some  refei'ence  to  death,  the  gods  of  death,  or  of  the  lower  i-egions, 
and  as  the  character  appears  to  be  a  variant  of  Cimi,  I  have  designated  it 
the  "death  symbol." 

It  is  found  in  connection  with  the  supposed  god  of  death  in  the  follow- 
ing places:  Lower  division  of  XXXV  (when  joined  with  XXXIV);  lower 
division  of  II*;  upper  division  of  VIII*;  second  and  lower  divisions  of  XI*; 
second  division  of  XXIP;  middle  division  of  XXIX*,  of  XXX*,  XXXI*, 
and  XXXIV*.     It  is  also  found  equally  often  with  the  god  and  goddess  with 

this  eye:  ■^i^v-  It  is  also  found  with  the  god  that  has  the  dark  stripe 
across  the  face,  as  in  the  lower  division  of  Plate  III.  Hence  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  that  this  and  the  other  two  are  to  be  classed  with  the  deities  of 
the  underworld.  We  also  find  this  character  in  several  places  where  the 
idea  of  death  or  destruction  is  evidently  intended  to  be  conveyed.  For 
example,  in  the  upper  division  of  Plates  VII  and  XXV;  second  and  third 


160 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


divisions  of  Plate  XXXII;  third  division  of  XXXIII;  upper  division  of 
VIII*,  XX*,  and  XXIX*. 

The  next  gronp  I  refer  to  is  found  in  the  upper  division  of  Phxte  X, 
and  consists  of  one  perpendicular  column  and  two  transverse  lines,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  97.     Taking  the  column  at  the  left,  proceeding  from  the  top  down- 


wards, I  suggest  the  following  interpretation  of  the  four  compound  char- 
acers  : 

"South,  tortilla  of  maize,  vase,  or  pan,  of  burnt  clay,  turn  6  (times)." 
The  characters  here  interpreted  yam  and  xam,  I  am  avv^are,  are  appar- 
ently identical;  but  the  former,  which  is  a  part  of  that  heretofore  interpreted 
"south,"  is  one  in  reference  to  which  I  have  been,  and  still  am,  in  great 
doubt,  especially  as  it  may  well  be  interpreted  ocamin,  "north."  The  two 
Imix  characters  here  translated  ixim  are  doubtless  used  more  as  symbols 
than  as  word  characters.  The  vase,  or  li  character,  is,  I  think,  simply 
added  to  render  definite  that  to  which  it  is  attached.  The  lowest  character 
(Landa's  h)  may  be  lieh^  "to  turn  over"  or  "revolve";  eh,  "to  elevate";  he, 
"to  march";  ov pe,  also  "to  march." 

The  transverse  lines  reading  from  left  to  right,  I  would  interpret  thus: 
"West,  tortilla  of  maize,  pan  of  burnt  clay,  7  (times),  deer?." 


THOMAS]  INTEEPRETATION  OF  CHAEACTEES.  161 

A  free  translation  of  the  column  would  then  be  about  as  follows: 

"  Facing  the  south,  place  the  tortilla  of  maize  on  the  pan  of  burnt  clay 
and  turn  it  six  times  (or  elevate  it,  or  march  with  it  six  times)." 

The  meaning  of  the  transverse  lines  is  similar,  except  as  to  direction, 
until  we  reach  the  last  character,  yv^hich  I  have  reason  to  believe  refers  to 
the  deer.  But  it  also  contains  another  element,  represented  by  the  circle 
at  the  lower  margin  inclosing  little  dots,  probably  the  equivalent  of  the  h- 
character  of  the  column. 

The  line  and  column  in  the  upper  division  of  Plate  XI  appear  to  be 
of  similar  import,  but  varied  in  the  cardinal  points  and  in  one  of  the  char- 
acters. I  am  not  prepared  to  attempt  an  interpretation  of  this  group,  but 
am  inclined  to  believe,  from  the  presence  of  the  ik  symbol,  that  it  refers  to 
exorcising  the  evil  spirit. 

The  groups  in  the  middle  and  lower  divisions  of  Plate  XIV  (Fig.  16, 
p.  99),  which  are  to  be  taken  in  columns,  and  read  from  the  top  downwards, 
are  evidently  of  similar  import. 

Take,  for  example,  the  second  (third,  if  the  day  column  is  counted) 
from  the  left  of  the  middle  division,  I  would  suggest  something  like  the  fol- 
lowing interpretation  (reading  from  the  top  downwards): 


tortilla  (or  maize).  (?)  the  oUa.  7  (?) 

Fig.  98. 

The  third  compound  or  double  character  is  possibly  a  pictograph  to 
represent  venison,  or  deer  hams.  Bras^eur  supposes  it  to  be  a  variant  of 
the  Cimi  character,  but  this  I  think  very  doubtful. 

11  M  T 


CHAPTEE,    VII. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THK  DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMBERS  IN 
THE  FIRST  PART  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT. 

In  Older  that  as  much  of  the  material  contained  in  tliis  Manuscript  as 
can  be  given  without  facsimile  representations  niay  be  placed  before  the 
reader,  I  will  now  give  the  names  of  the  days  as  found  in  the  day  colunms 
of  some  of  the  plates;  this  will  enable  him  to  test  my  interpretation  of 
the  numerals.  As  my  object  in  doing  this  is  to  give  an  opportunity  to  all 
into  whose  hands  tliis  paper  may  fall  to  test  the  correctness  of  the  theo- 
ries I  have  advanced,  I  will  give  the  different  divisions  of  the  plates,  each 
with  its  own  days  and  numbers.  It  is  to  be  understood  that  where  there  is 
more  than  one  division  on  a  plate,  as  is  usually  the  case,  they  will  be  num- 
bered consecutively  from  the  top  downward,  first,  second,  third,  &c.  In 
giving  the  numerals,  the  Roman  represent  the  red  or  day  numerals,  the 
Arabic  the  black  or  month  numbers.  The  red  numerals  usually  found 
over  the  day  columns  will  also  be  placed  over  them  here.  Those  in  the 
spaces  will  also  be  given  in  the  spaces  here,  and  by  pairs  as  in  the  Manu- 
script. In  the  first  example  a  few  explanatory^  words  will  be  placed  in 
parentheses;  aftervvai'ds  these  will  be  omitted. 

Plates  I-XIX  all  contain  three  divisions,  separated  from  each  other 

by  broad,  transverse  red  or  brown  lines.     It  is  therefore  to  be  understood, 

when  no  special    mention  is  made  of  the  number  of  the  divisions,  that 

there  are  three  on  each  plate.     The  upper  or  top  division  I  will  designate 

as  the  first,  the  middle  as  the  second,  and  the  Imttom  as  the  third.     These 

divisions  are  again  divided  into  compartments,  usually  differing  in  the  color 

of  the  ground,  which  is  white,  reddish-brown,  or  blue.     In  some  cases  the 

subject-matter  of  a  division  is  continued  into  the  second  or  even  the  third 

plate.    These  do  not  follow  each  other  in  the  usual  order  of  ])ages.    Where  it 
162 


DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUJVIEEAL  CHARACTERS. 


163 


extends  over  upon  the  next  pnge  or  plate,  it  is  always  to  be  understood  that 
the  one  which  precedes  is  to  have  its  left  margin  placed  to  the  right  margin 
of  that  which  follows,  and  that  the  day  column  at  the  left  of  a  division  refers 
to  all  that  stand  to  the  right  of  it,  when  thus  placed,  until  another  day  col- 
umn is  reached.  In  order  to  make  this  clear,  let  me  illustrate  by  an  example. 
On  the  middle  division  of  Plate  V  we  find  a  day  column  with  two  figures  to 
the  right  of  it.  Turning  to  Plate  IV,  we  find  other  figures  of  a  similar  char- 
acter, but  no  day  column.  By  placing  the  latter  (Plate  IV)  so  that  its  left 
margin  joins  to  the  right  margin  of  the  former  (Plate  V),  we  have  a  con- 
tinuous series  of  figures  of  a  similar  character.  The  day  column,  therefore, 
on  the  latter  plate,  relates  to  all  on  the  right  until  we  reach  the  next  day 
column,  which  will  be  found  in  this  case  on  the  left  margin  of  Plate  III,  as 
in  the  annexed  diagram. 

V.  IV.  III. 


In  this  illustration  the  letters  represent  the  days  and  the  position  of  the 
day  columns.  That  this  is  the  proper  jiosition  of  these  plates  in  reference 
to  each  other  ma)-  be  seen  by  referring  to  Plates  XXX.  and  XXXI,  where 
the  head  of  the  bird  in  the  third  division  of  Plate  XXXI — there  are  four 
divisions  in  this  case — is  on  the  right  margin  and  the  tail  on  the  left  margin 
of  Plate  XXX} 


'By  biutling  together  the  plates,  exactly  the  reverse  of  Brasseur's  pagiug — as  is  done  iu  many 
copies — we  will  probably  have  them  arranged  in  the  order  intended. 


164  A  STDDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

On  Plates  XXX*  and  XXIX*  the  head  of  the  black  figure  is  at  the 
right  margin  of  the  upper  division  of  the  former,  while  the  body  and  feet 
ai-e  in  the  left  margin  of  the  upper  division  of  the  latter.  This  explanation 
will  be  sufficient  to  make  clear  what  may  hereafter  be  said  in  reference  to 
the  subject-matter  of  the  division  of'  one  plate  extending  over  upon  the 
corresponding  division  of  another. 

Plate  I. 

The  day  characters  on  this  plate,  if  there  were  any,  are  wholly  oblit- 
erated. 

Plate  II. 

I  give  below  (Fig.  99)  an  illustration  of  the  day  and  numeral  characters 

-'Li>       '*A\  of  the  second  division  of  this  plate.     The  black  numerals, 

;G.'-     *'Vi*  ... 

01'  those  for  the  month  are  given  here  in  solid  black,  the  red 

or  day  numer- 

*^*      ^      _;  ^^B^    O  O O    maoBim        O  sils  in  outline. 

As  the  first 

character  in  tlie  left  column  is  an  unusual  one,  and  the 

first  of  the  right  column  is  too  much  obliterated  to  be 

determined  by  inspection,  we  must    ascertain    them  by 

means  of  the  intervals. 

The  third  in  the  left  column  is  certainly  Chuen  and 

the  fourth  Akbal — this  gives  an  interval  of  twelve  days; 

those  of  the  right  column    are  Been,  Chicchan,  Caban, 

and  Muluc,  the  interval  being  in  each  case  twelve  days. 

This  gives  for  the  left  column  ]\[anik,  Cauac,  Chuen,  Akbal,  and  Men.    The 

Cauac  character,  if  such  it  be,  is  a  very  unusual  one,  being  identical  with 

that  for  Men.^     The  first  character  in  the  right  column  is  that  for  Ymix. 

'This,  I  tbiuk,  is  au  evident  mistake,  and  furnishes  one  reason  for  believing  this  MS.  is  a  copy. 


Q 


DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMERAL  CHARACTERS. 


165 


Plate  III. 

FIRST    DIVISION. 

Manik. 

XI-5. 

VI-5. 

Cauac. 

VI-5. 

IX-11, 

Chuen. 

VIII-5. 

IV-3. 

Akbal. 

X-10. 

Men. 

SECOND    DIVISION. 

IV. 

IV. 

Akbal. 

Ben. 

I-IO. 

Muluc. 

Cauac. 

X--9. 

Men. 

Cbicchan. 

IV-  7. 

Ymix. 

Chuen. 

Manik 

Caban. 

THIRD    DIVISION. 

obliterated. 

Plate  IV. 

The  first  division  of  this  plate  is  rather  an  unusual  one  in  regard  to  the 
days  and  numbers.     The  days  are  as  follows : 


FIRST 

DIVISION. 

Ahau. 

Oc. 

X-9. 

Eb. 

(?)-7. 

Ik. 

Kan. 

Ix. 

Cib. 

Cimi. 

Lamat. 
We  observe  that  only  three  of  the  regular  numbers  remain;  but  in 
addition  to  these  there  are  small  red  characters  representing  the  following 
numbers  (?)  I,XII,  I,XII,  I,XII,  I,XII,  I,XII. 


10{)  A  STUDY  OF  TUE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

SECOND    DIVISION. 

The  second  division  commences  on  Plate  V,  and  includes  all  of  the 
oooo      second  division  of  that   plate.     The    characters    are  as  repre- 
sented in  the  annexed  cut  (Fig.  100): 
J***          mJamm     OOOO    _f  f  ^       Q  oo  The    days    are 

L.  ■ ■  Kan,    Gib,    Lamat, 

Aliau,  Eb;  the  dates,  4th  day,  15th  and  11th  months;  1st  day, 
13th  month;   9th  day,  11th  month;  and  8th  day,  13th  month. 


THIRD    DIVISION. 

XTI, 

Cauac. 

VI-G. 

Chuen. 

VI-6. 

Akbal. 

VI-7. 

Men. 

VI-7. 

Manik. 

XIII-7. 

' 

XIII-7. 

Plate  V. 

FIRST    DIVISION. 

The  first  division  of  this  plate  contains  two  compartments.  The  first 
has  the  numeral  IV  over  the  day  column.  The  days  are  Caban,  Muluc, 
Ymix,  Been  Chicchan.     The  numbers  in  the  space  are  I-IO,  X-10. 

The  second  compartment  is  found  partly  on  Plate  V  and  partly  on 
Plate  IV,  and  is  similar  to  the  first  division  of  Plate  IV.  The  days  are 
Cauac,  Muluc,  Chuen,  Ymix,  Akbal,  Been,  Men,  Chicchan,  Manik.  The 
only  regular  number  unobliterated  is  the  black  numeral  13  in  the  space. 
The  following  are  the  small  red  numerals:  XIII,  XI,  XIII,  XI,  XIII  (?), 
XIII,  XI,  XIII.     White  cross-bones  on  a  black  ground  are  in  this  space. 

SECOND    DIVISION. 

The  second  division  of  this  plate  runs  over  on  Plate  IV,  and  has  been 
illustrated  and  described  as  belonging  to  that  plate. 


B.1  DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMERAL  OUAKACTERS.  167 

THIRD    DIVISION. 

The  day  characters  in  the  third  division  are  wholly  obliterated. 
Plate  VI. 

FIRST    DIVISION. 


IVC?). 

Ahaii. 

(?)-10. 

Eb. 

XI-10. 

Kan. 

IV-12. 

Cib. 

(f)-lO. 

La  mat. 

IX-10. 

SECOND    DIVISION. 


XII. 

Caban. 

XIII- 

-13. 

Ik. 

XIII- 

-13. 

Manik. 

XII- 

-13. 

Eb. 

XIII- 

-13. 

Caban. 

XIII- 

-13. 

THIRD 

DIVISION. 

IV. 

IV. 

Ahau. 

Oc. 

X-6. 

Cimi. 

Cib. 

1-4. 

Eb. 

Ik. 

Ezanab. 

Lamat. 

Kan. 

Ix. 

Plate  VII. 

FIRST 

DIVISION. 

The  characters  and  numerals  being  partially  obliterated  in  the  first 
division  of  this  plate,  it  is  omitted. 


168  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

SECOND    DIVISION. 

—13. 


-13. 


XII. 

I. 

(XIII 
(         I 

Chuen. 
Gib. 

J   XIX 

Ymix. 
Cimi. 

<    XII 

(      I 

Ghuen. 

l-H     hH 

X 

-13. 


This  section  (second)  of  Plate  VII  contains  some  peculiarities  in  the 
day  symbols  and  numeral  characters.     For  example,  the  day  (red)  numerals 

OOP       O  o 

are  given  thus,   ^         -^    ^~~ — -?, ,   the  first  signifying  two  numbers,  XIII 
o  o 

and  I;  the  second  XII  and  I. 

The  symbol  for  Gimi  is  also  peculiar  and  is  in  this  form  |^o\>f.     The 
numbers  over  the  column  are  XII  and  I. 

THIKD   DIVISION. 

Day  characters  on  Plate  VIII. 

Plate  VIII. 


VI-4. 


FIRST 

DIVISION. 

(?) 

(?) 

Kan. 

Ix. 

XIII-  1. 

Oc. 

Ahau. 

XII-11. 

Gib. 

Gimi. 

I-  4. 

Ik. 

Eb. 

X-  4. 

Lamat. 

Ezanab. 

II-  2. 

DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMEEAL  CHAEACTERS.  169 

SECOND   DIVISION. 

VII.  VII. 

Ahau.  Cimi.  XIII-  1. 

Eb.  Ezanab.  I-  1, 

Kan.    •  Oc.  XII-  5. 

Cib.  Ik.  IV-  3. 

Lamat.  Ix.  VII-13. 

VII-  3. 

LEFT   SECTION   OF   THIRD    DIVISION. 


XII. 

XII. 

Cimi. 

Ahau. 

II- 

•  2.              X-10. 

Ezanab. 

Eb. 

VII- 

•  5.          XII-12(?). 

Oc. 

Kan. 

XIII- 

3. 

Ik. 

Cib. 

X- 

IL 

Ix. 

Lamat. 

XII- 

2(?). 

EIGHT   SECTION 

OF   THIRD 

DIVISION. 

I. 

Ahau. 

X-10. 

Eb. 

IX-10. 

Kan. 

V-10. 

Cib. 

11-10. 

Lamat, 

(D-10. 

Ahau. 

Part  of  this  section  runs  over  on  Plate  VII. 

The  figures  in  this  division,  which  are  all  blue,  are  each  seated  on  a 
large  compound  character,  under  one  of  the  pairs  of  numerals  above  given, 
and  pertaining  to  it  as  shown  by  the  lines  dividing  these  minor  spaces.  In 
the  character  on  which  each  figure  is  seated  there  are,  first,  an  Ahau  of  the 
usual  size  and  form,  to  which  is  joined  a  black  numeral;  then  several  small 
Chuen  symbols.  The  numeral  over  the  Ahau  belonging  to  the  day  num- 
bered I,  as  given  above,  is  9;  that  belonging  to  the  day  numbered  II  is  10; 
that  belonging  to  the  day  numbered  V  is  11. 


170 


A  STDDY  OF  TEE  MANUSCllIPT  TROANO. 


The  lists  of  day  cliaracters  on  this  plate  as  given  by  M.  de  Charency, 
differ  from  the  foregoing  only  in  having  Ix  for  the  first  day  of  the  left  col- 
umn of  the  upper  division,  and  Kan  for  the  first  day  of  the  right  column 
of  the  same  division.  These  two  days  are  obliterated  in  the  Manuscript 
and  hence  have  to  be  restored,  wliich  can  only  bo-  done  by  counting  the 
intervals. 

The  interval  between  the  days  in  these  two  columns,  as  may  be  seen 
by  counting,  is  six  days.  This  gives  Kan  as  the  first  of  the  left-hand  col- 
umn and  Ix  as  the  first  of  the  right-hand;  hence  I  conclude  that  this  author 
is  wrong  in  his  restoration,  or  has  made  a  mistake  in  transcribing.  Follow- 
ing out  his  plan,  we  would  have  an  interval  of  sixteen  days  between  Ix  and 
Oc  in  the  first  column  and  of  six  between  each  of  the  others,  and  a  like 
discrepancy  in  the  other  column.  But  I  think  it  is  evident,  from  what  he 
says  on  page  30  of  the  same  work,  that  he  has  unintentionally  reversed 
these  two  days,  as  it  is  not  sixteen  days  from  Kan  to  Oc,  as  he  says,  but 
six.  If  we  substitute  Ix  for  Kan  and  Kan  for  Ix,  we  find  all  his  numbers 
correct,  except  that  it  is  only  ten  days  from  Lamat  to  Ezanab,  instead  of 

sixteen,  as  he  states. 

Plate  IX. 


X(?). 

Men. 

Manik. 

Cauac. 

Chuen. 

Akbal. 


FIRST    DIVISION. 

VII-C?)    The  death  symbol  is  found  in  this  space  occu- 
(IV(^)        pyi"g  the  place  of  one  number  of  this  pair. 
II-l. 
VI-4. 
XIII-7. 


IV. 

Cimi. 

Ezanab. 

Ik. 

Oc. 

Ix. 


IV. 

Ahau. 

Eb. 

Kan. 

Gib. 

Lamat. 


SECOND    DIVISION. 

V-1. 

XIII-3. 

VII-2. 

II-2. 

IV-3. 


VIII-4. 

X-3. 

1-9. 


'  D^chififroment  dea  ficritures  Calculiformes  on  Mayas,  p.  26. 


DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMERAL  CIIAIJACTEUS. 


171 


THIRD    DIVISION'. 


X. 

X. 

Ezanab. 

Lamat. 

XII-2. 

VII-3. 

Kan. 

Ix. 

X-3. 

1-5. 

Oc. 

Aliau. 

IX-2. 

VII- (' 

Cib. 
Ik 

Cimi. 
Eb. 

Plate 

II-3. 
III-2. 

X. 

FIRST    DIVISION. 

Tliere  arc  no  day  characters  in  tliis  division. 

SLCOND    DIVISION. 


V. 

V. 

Oc. 

Ahau. 

VII-2. 

Cib. 

Cimi. 

V-9. 

Ik. 

Eb. 

IX-2. 

Lamat. 

P^zanab. 

IV-8. 

Ix. 

Kan. 

V-4. 

THIRD 

DIVISION. 

VII. 

VII. 

Cib. 

Cimi. 

IX-  2. 

Ik. 

Eb. 

VII-12. 

Lamat. 

Ezanab. 

X-  1 

Ix. 

Kan. 

XIII-  3. 

Ahaii. 

Oc. 

VIII- 

Plate  XI. 

FIRST 

DIVISION. 

IV. 

Ezanab. 

Oc. 

I-IO. 

Ik. 

-    8. 

Ix. 

Cimi. 

172 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MAimSCEIPT  TEOANO. 


SECOND 

DIVISION. 

0 

(D 

Oc. 

Ahau. 

II-l. 

XIII-2. 

Gib. 

Gimi. 

(D-9. 

X-5. 

Ik. 

Eb. 

IV-4. 

Lamat. 

Ezanab. 

IV-2. 

Ix. 

Kan. 

VI-2. 

THIKD 

DIVISION. 

• 

IV. 

IV. 

Oc. 

Ahau. 

V-1. 

IV-2. 

Gib. 

Gimi. 

IV-9. 

Ik. 

Eb. 

VII-2. 

Lara  at. 

Ezanab. 

IX-4. 

Ix. 

Kan. 

XIII-6. 

Plate  XII. 

FIRST 

DIVISION. 

X. 

Men. 

(I)-  5. 

II-  6, 

Ahau. 

XIII-11. 

IX-13. 

Gbicclian. 

IX-  9. 

IX-  8. 

Oc. 

XIII-  4. 

Men. 

IX-  9. 

SECOND   DIVISION. 


XII. 

XII. 

Ix. 

Ahau. 

XIII-  1. 

IX-2. 

Gimi. 

Eb. 

XII-  2. 

XII-3. 

Ik. 

Kan. 

X-11. 

Ezanab. 

Gib. 

Ill-  3. 

Oc. 

Lamat. 

VII-  3. 

DAY  COLTJMNS  AND  NUMERAL  CHARACTERS:  173 

THIRD    DIVISION. 


I. 

Cimi. 

VII-  4. 

XIII-  3. 

Ezanab. 

(D-n. 

X-10 

Oc. 

IV-  7. 

Ik' 

X-  2. 

Ix. 

X-  3. 

The  lists  of  days  on  this  plate,  as  given  by  Charency,  agree  with  those 
here  given,  only  in  the  middle  division.  Tliose  of  the  first  and  third  divis- 
ions, as  given  by  him,  are  as  follows: 

FIRST   DIVISION.  THIRD   DIVISION. 

Men.  Cimi. 

Ahau.  Ezanab. 

Oc.  Eb. 

Men.  Ik. 

Men.  Gib. 

Some  of  the  characters  on  this  plate  are  of  a  form  found  here  only. 
The  character  for  Oc  in  both  divisions  is  unusual,  an  eye  being  inserted 

whicli  throws  back  the  broken  line  as  shown  in  the  annexed  figure. 

The  character  for  Chicchan  in  the  first  division  is  somewhat  different 

from  the  usual  form,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  figure  here  given. 

So  far  as  the  list  in  the  first  division  is  concerned,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  first  and  last  cliaracters  represent  3Ien.  This  would  of  itself  require 
an  interval  of  five  days  between  each  two,  if  uniform  tbroughout. 

Counting  from  Men  to  Ahau,  we  liave  an  interval  of  five  days;  five 
more  gives  us  Chicchan,  five  moi'e  Oc,  and  five  more  Men,  as  it  should  be. 

Now  turning  to  the  third  division  of  this  plate,  we  find  that  1;Jie  interval 
between  Cimi  and  Ezanab  is  twelve  days;  twelve  more  will  give  Oc. 
twelve  more  Ik,  and  twelve  more  Ix,  which  makes  the  days  and  the  order 


174 


A  STUDY  OF  TDE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


precisely  like  that  of  the  right-hand  column  of  the  middle  division  of  Plate 
VIII  as  given  by  both  Charency  and  myself,  and  regarding  which  there  can 
be  no  doubt. 

The  reader  will  see  that  Charency's  arrangement  pf  this  third  division 
(Plate  XII)  gives  twelve  days  for  the  first  interval,  fourteen  for  the  second, 
ten  for  the  third,  and  fourteen  for  the  last. 

The  character  for  Ix  in  this  division  is  an  unusual  one,  being  as  here 


represented.  C^^Q 


Plate 

XIII. 

FIRST   DIVISION. 

III. 

III. 

Kan. 

Lamat. 

11^2. 

XIII-2. 

Oc. 

Ix. 

111-9. 

XI-2. 

Cib. 

Cimi. 

V-2. 

Ahau. 

Eb. 

X(!)-4. 

Ik. 

Ezanab. 

Vll-5. 

SECOND 

DIVISION. 

XIII. 

Xlll. 

Cib. 

Oc. 

V-1. 

X-3. 

Kan. 

Ik. 

XIlI-9. 

VlI-2. 

Lamat. 

Ix. 

111-1. 

Ahau. 

Cimi. 

II-5. 

Eb(?). 

Ezanab. 

IV- 1. 

THIRD 

DIVISION. 

X. 

X. 

Oc. 

Ahau. 

Ill-  3. 

XIII-3. 

Cib. 

Cimi 

X-10. 

Ik. 

Eb. 

Vll-  4. 

Lamat 

Ezanab. 

X-  2. 

Ix. 

Kan. 

XI-  4. 

THOMAS  1  DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMEEAL  OnAEACTEltS.  175 

The  character  for  Cimi  is  siniHar  to  that  in  the  middle  division  of  Phite 
VII. 

Phites  XIV  and  XV  are  so  badly  damaged  that  the  numerals  and  day 
characters  cannot  be  satisfactoril}'  made  out. 

Plates  XVI  and  XVII. 

All  the  divisions  of  Plate  XVII  extend  over  and  occupy  the  whole  of 
Plate  XVI. 


FIRST    mVJSION. 

IV. 

Ahau. 

VIII-4. 

XI-11. 

Eb. 

I-G. 

VI-  8. 

Kan. 

X-9. 

IV-11. 

Cib. 

•    XIII-3. 

Lamat. 

SECOND    DIVISION. 


I. 

Caban. 

IX-  8. 

11-12. 

Muluc. 

Ill-  7. 

-  4. 

Ymix. 

XIII-10. 

Been. 

V-(?). 

Chicchan. 

X-G. 

IHIRD    DIVISION. 

XII. 

Chicchan. 

Ill-  4. 

VIII-10. 

Caban. 

VIII-  5. 

XII-  5. 

Muluc. 

II-  8. 

Ymix. 

x-0). 

Been  (?). 

X-13. 

176 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 


Plate  XVIII. 

The  column  of  day  characters  belonging  to  the  first  division  of  this 
plate  is  found  in  the  first  division  of  Plate  XIX. 


SECOND 

DIVISION. 

IV. 

IV. 

Cimi. 

Ahau. 

1II-2. 

IV-4. 

Ezanab. 

Eb. 

VIII-5. 

Oc. 

Kan. 

1-5. 

Ik. 

Gib. 

XII-5. 

Ix. 

Lamat. 

IX-5. 

THIRD 

DIVISION. 

X. 

Ezanab. 

IV-5. 

X-6. 

XI-6. 

Oc. 

(I)-4. 

IV-3. 

V-4. 

Ik. 

VIII-4. 

X-3. 

VIII-3. 

Ix. 

II-4. 

V-3. 

XII-4. 

Cimi. 

®-III. 

Plate  XIX. 

The  subject-matter  of  the  first  division  of  this  plate  occupies  all  the 
first  division  of  Plate  XVIII. 


first 

division. 

IV. 

Ahau. 

11-13. 

Eb. 

11-11. 

Kan. 

XIII-11. 

Gib. 

X-10. 

Lamat. 

IV-  7. 

DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMERAL  CHARACTERS. 


177 


SECOND   DIVISION. 


The  red  numerals  in  this  division  are  doubled,  as  in  the  manner  here- 


tofore  shown. 

IX  and  IV. 

Gib. 

XI  and  VI- 

-10. 

Lamat. 

VII  and 

II- 

-11. 

Ahau. 

IX  and 

I- 

-  7. 

Eb. 

IX  and  IV- 

2. 

Kan. 

THIRD    DIVISION. 

III. 

III. 

Muluc. 

Cauac. 

X-  7. 

Men. 

Chicchan. 

Ill-  6. 

Ymix. 

Chuen. 

VI-  3. 

Manik. 

Caban. 

III-IO. 

Been. 

Akbal. 

The  character  in  this  division  interpreted  as  Chicchan  is  an  unusual 
one,  being  in  this  form:  lS^3- 

The  numerals  on    Plates    XXIV  and  XXV  and  those  in  the  upper 
division  of  Plate  XXVI  being  partially  obliterated,  we  have  omitted  them. 


Plate 

XXVI. 

'  LOWER 

DIVISION. 

XIII. 

Ahau. 

XIII- 

-13. 

Eb. 

XIII- 

-13. 

Kan. 

XIII- 

-13 

Gib. 

XIII- 

-13. 

Lamat 

12  M   T 


178 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEirT  TROANO. 


Plate 

XXVII. 

UPPER 

DIVISION. 

XL 

Ahau. 

X-13. 

Eb. 
Kan. 

XI-13. 
XI-13. 

Gib. 

XI-13. 

Lamat. 

LOWER   DIVISION. 


XIII  (or  XIV)-2. 

XI-  2. 

VI-  2. 

IX-  3. 

VI-10. 

IV-  4. 

IX-  3. 


IX. 

Chuen. 

Caban. 

Akbal. 

Muluc. 

Men. 

Ymix. 

Manik. 

Been. 

Cliicchan. 

Cauac. 


We  find  in  tlie  day  column  of  this  division  a  rather  unusual  character 
for  Chicchan,  which  is  here  shownl*>-»Vl-     As  the  day  column  entirely 

fills  the  space  the  numei'al  character  wiiicli  should  be  placed  at  the  top  is 
put  at  the  side  of  the  first  day  character.     The  first  red  numeral  is  as  foUoAvs: 

O  O  O   O 

f--        =t.     The    right-hand  dot  in    the    original  is    imperfect,  small,  and 
crowded,  and,  as  I  believe,  is  there  by  mistake. 


TH0MAB.1  DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMEfeAL  OHARACTEKS.  179 

Plate  XXVIII. 

The  charactei's  of  the  first  division  are  somewhat  obliterated,  as  are  also 
the  numerals. 

SECOND   DIVISION. 

(D 

Men.  XI-  9. 

Manik.  I-  9. 

Cauac.  I-  9. 

Chuen.  1-17. 

Akbal.  V-  7. 


THIRD 

DIVISION. 

XI. 

Ahau. 

VII- 

•  2. 

Eb. 

cc 

;-7. 

Kan. 

XI- 

-10. 

Cib. 

XI- 

-13. 

Lamat. 

FOURTH    DIVISION. 

Men.  I-  8. 

Manik.  III-14. 

Been.  XI 11-13. 

Eb.  1-13. 

Chuen.  V-  3. 

Plate  XXIX. 

No  day  characters  in  the  first,  second,  or  third  divisions. 


FOURTH 

DIVISION. 

XII 

Cimi. 

VI- 

Ezanab. 

VI-13. 

Oc. 

III-IO. 

Ik. 

XII-  9. 

Ix. 

180  A  STUDY  OF  THE  3IANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

Plate  XXX. 

The  left-hand  conij^artments  of  the  first,  second,  and  third  divisions  of 
this  plate  ai-e  continuations  of  the  first,  second,  and  third  divisions  of  Plate 
XXXI.  The  right-hand  compartments  of  these  three  divisions  form  the 
commencement  of,  and  contain  the  day  characters  for  the  first,  second,  and 
third  divisions  of  Plate  XLXIX. 

SECOND    DIVISION. 

(III?). 
Ik. 

Ix. 
Cimi. 
Ezanab. 
Oc. 


FIRST    COLUMN,  THIRD    DIVISION. 

The  numerals  are  placed  in  this  form  over  the 


Lamat.       y  m«i»     column.     They  are  probably  to  be  taken  in  pairs,  the 


K^n-  ^  '  ""^'     black  characters  representing  two  separate  numbers, 

Ahau.  '—         ■'     one  stripe  with  the  dots  to  be  taken  with  the  red  nu- 

'^il^-  meral  above,  thus,  V-9 ;  the  two  remaining  stripes  with  the  red 

^^-'"-  numerals  below  thus,  VII-10. 


RIGHT    COMPARTMENT,    THIRD    DIVISION. 


XIII. 

Muluc. 

XIII-13. 

Ix. 

XIII-13. 

Cauac. 

XIII-13. 

Kan. 

XIII-13. 

Muluc. 

XIII-13. 

There  are  no  day  chai-acters  in  the  fourth  division. 


DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMERAL  CHARACTERS. 


181 


Plate  XXXI. 
Day  characters  obliterated  in  the  first  division. 


SECOND    DIVISION. 

Kan. 

VII- 

-11. 

Cib. 

V- 

-11. 

Lamat 

III- 

-11. 

Ahau. 

!- 

-11. 

Eb. 

IX- 

-11. 

THIRD    DIVISION. 

Chuen. 

Oc. 

Muluc. 

Cimi. 

Cimi. 

Chicchan. 

Akbal. 

Ik. 

Ymix. 

Cauac. 
Men. 

Ezanab. 
Ix. 

Caban. 
Been. 

These  columns  all  have  the  same  numerals  over  them  as  the  first 
column  in  the  third  division  of  Plate  XXX,  and  they  are  arranged  in  the 
same  way.     There  are  no  numerals  in  the  spaces. 


FOURTH    DIVISION. 


XIII. 

XIII. 

Ymix. 

Manik. 

IX-  9 

Been. 

Cauac 

XII-  3 

Chicchan. 

Chuen. 

IX-10 

Caban. 

Akbal. 

XI-  2 

Muluc 

Men. 

XIII-  2. 

This  division  extends  over  to  Plate  XXX. 


182  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO, 

Plate  XXXII. 


FIRST 

DIVISION. 

? 

Cib. 

XIII-  9. 

Lamat. 

-  8. 

Ahau. 

IX-  8. 

Eb. 

11-17. 

Kan. 

II-  9. 

SEC ONI 

)    DIVISION. 

(VIII?). 

Ik. 

I-   6. 

Ix. 

IX-  8. 

Cimi. 

II-  t 

Ezanab. 

VIII-18. 

Muluc. 

THIRD 

DIVISION. 

(?) 

Ix. 

XII. 

Ix. 

VI. 

In  space, 

Ix. 

XIII. 

Cimi?  or 

deatli  symbol. 

FOURTH    DIVISION. 


Lamat. 

III-13. 

Ahau. 

III-13. 

Eb. 

ITI-13. 

Kan. 

III-13. 

Cib. 

THOMAS.] 


DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMERAL  CHARACTEES. 


183 


Plate  XXXIII. 


FIRST 

DIVISION. 

(?) 

Kan. 

VII-  5. 

Muluc. 

II-  8. 

Ix. 

X-  I 

Cauac. 

XIII-15. 

Kan. 

VIII-  8. 

SECOND    DIVISION. 


Chuen. 

Ymix. 

11-11. 

Caban. 

Manik. 

X?-  3. 

Akbal. 

Been. 

VIII-  6. 

Muluc. 

Cauac. 

IV,  or  IX-  6. 

Men. 

Cliicchan 

f-  4. 

TIIIKD    DIVISION. 

Column  left  compartment. 

Column 

[  right  compartment 

V?. 

V. 

Cauac. 

Kan. 

XIII 

XII. 

Cauac. 

Kan. 

VI 1 

VI. 

Cimi  ?. 

Cimi?. 

XIII. 

XIII. 

Cimil 

Cimi?. 

FOURTH    DIVISION. 


Caban. 

III-13. 

Muluc. 

III-13. 

Imix. 

III-13. 

Been. 

III-13. 

Cliicchan. 

;lg4  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TEOANO. 

Plate  XXXIV. 
Tho  first  and  fourth  divisions  belong  to  Plate  XXXV. 


SECOND   DIVISION. 

IV. 

Cimi. 

XII-8. 

VI-8. 

Ezanab. 

XIII-7?.- 

?  I  . 

Oc. 

?-7. 

IX?-7?. 

Ik. 

IV-8. 

Ix. 

THIRD    DIVISION. 

IV 1 

Aliau.                  XI- 

-  ?. 

Eb.                       II- 

-17. 

Kan.                    IV- 

-15. 

Cib. 

Lamat. 

Plate  XXXV. 
On  this  plate  the  day  column  in  the  second  division  is  illegible. 


first   DIVISION. 

(?)-10. 

Lamat. 

VII-10. 

VIII-10. 

Been. 

V?-10. 

XII?-10. 

Ezanab. 

I-IO. 

Akbal. 

XI-10. 

THIRD   DIVISION. 

(?) 

Ymix. 

X- 

-10. 

Been. 

IX- 

-11. 

Caban. 

IX- 

-13. 

Chicchan. 

VIII- 

-12. 

Muluc. 

I- 

-12. 

DAY  COLUMNS  AND  NUMERAL  CHARACTERS. 


185 


FOURTH    DIVISION. 

IV. 

Ahau.  •  IX-11. 

Chicchan.  1-17. 

Oc.  Ill  or  IV-17. 

Men. 

Ahau. 

Plate  I*. 

No  day  characters  are  discernible  in  the  first  division  of  this  plate. 

THIRD   DIVISION. 

I?. 

Caban.  I-  6. 

Ik.  I-  5. 

Manik.  ?-13. 

Eb. 
Caban? 

Plate  II*. 

FIRST    DIVISION. 

Manik.  XI-  4. 

Eb.  IX-15?. 

Caban. 

Ik. 

Manik. 


SECOND   DIVISION. 


Left  column 
IX. 
Caban. 


IX-12. 
IX-13. 
IX-18? 


Ik. 

Manik. 

Eb. 

Caban. 

This  division  is  continued  on  Plate  I*. 
Left  column,  third  division,  illegible. 


Right  column. 

Vim 


Ik. 

Eb. 
Manik. 
Caban. 
Ik. 


11-13. 
IV-13. 
IV-11. 


jg(5         A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

THIRD   DIVISION. 

Right  column. 

IV. 

Ahau. 

Eb.  XI-13. 

,  Kan.  IV-19  or  9  and  10. 

Cib. 
Lamat. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

A  DISCUSSION  OF  DATES,  WITH   SPECIAL   REFERENCE   TO 
THOSE  OF  THE  PEREZ  MANUSCRIPT. 

As  I  have  heretofore  touched  upon  this  topic,  I  must  ask  the  reader  to 
refer  to  what  is  there  stated,  that  I  may  dispense  with  repeating  it  here. 
But  it  is  proper  to  remind  him  here  that  having  proven,  at  least  satis- 
factorily to  myself,  that  the  Ahau  consisted  of  twenty-four  years,  this 
number  is  always  to  be  understood  whenever  this  period  is  mentioned  in 
this  discussion.  In  the  second  place,  I  start  with  the  understanding  that  a 
13  th  Ahau  closed  with  the  year  1542.  I  have  already  given  my  reasons, 
somewhat  at  length,  for  this  conclusion.  I  may  add  that  Dr.  Valentini,  in  his 
article  on  the  Perez  Manuscript,  arrives  at  the  same  conclusion.  Brasseur^ 
also  concludes  the  13th  Ahau  with  the  year  1542,  as  he  gives  the  following 
explanation:  "Dans  le  XIII  Ahau  Katun,  cest-a-dire,  entre  les  annees  1518— 
1542";  thus  counting  twenty-four  years  to  this  period,  notwithstanding  his 
repeated  statement  elsewhere  that  it  contained  but  twenty.  We  may  there- 
fore feel  assured  that  we  have  in  these  dates — the  24th  year  of  the  XIII 
AhauzrA.  D.  1542 — one  connecting  link  between  the  two  chronological 
systems;  and  also  that  the  author  of  the  Perez  Manuscript  was  correct  in 
stating  that  at  the  period  alluded  to — the  year  1536 — "six  years  were 
wanting  to  the  completion  of  the  13th  Ahau." 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  have  before  him  as  much  of  the  data 
bearing  upon  this  point  as  can  be  conveniently  given  here,  I  insert  at  this 
point  a  copy  of  the  Perez  Manuscript  in  the  original,  following  it  with 
the  English  translation. 

'Hist,  des  Nat.  Civ.,  II,  594,  note  1. 


138  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

THE  MAYA  MANUSCRIPT. 
MAYA. 

Lai  u  tzolun  Katun  lukci  ti  cab  ti  yotoch  Nonoual  c4nte  anflo  Tutul 
Xiu  ti  chikin  Zuiiia;  u  luumil  u  talelob  Tulapan  chiconabthan. 

1.  Cante  bin  ti  Katun  lie  u  ximbalob  ca  uliob  uaye  yetel  Holon-Cban- 
tepeub  yetel  u  cucbulob:  ca  hokiob  ti  petene  uaxac  Ahau  bin  yan  cuchi, 
uac  Ahau,  can  Ahau,  cabil  Ahau,  conkal  haab  catac  hunppel  haab;  tumen 
bun  piztun  oxlahun  Ahau  cuchie  ca  uliob  uay  ti  petene  cankal  haab  catac 
hunppel  haab  tu  pakteil  yete  cu  ximbalob  lukci  tu  luumilob  ca  talob  uay  ti 
petene  Chacnouitan  lae. 

2.  Uaxac  Ahau,  uac  Ahau,  cabil  Ajau;  kuchci  Chacnouitan  Ahmekat 
Tutul  Xiu  hunppel  haab-minan  ti  hokal  haab  cuchi  yanob  Chacnouitan  lae. 

3.  Laitun  uchci  ii  chicpahal  tzucubte  Ziyan-caan  lae  Bakhalal,  can 
Ahau,  cabil  Ahau,  oxlahun  Ahau  oxkal  haab  cu  tepalob  Ziyan-caan  ca 
emob  uay  lae;  lai  u  haabil  cu  tepalob  Bakhalal  chuulte  laitun  chicpahci 
Chichen  Itza  lae. 

4.  Buluc  Ahau,  bolon  Ahau,  nuc  Ahau,  ho  Ahau,  ox  Ahau,  hun  Ahau 
uac  kal  haab  cu  tepalob  Chichen  Itza  ca  paxi  Chichen  Itza,  ca  binob  cahtal 
Champutun  ti  yanhi  u  yotochob  ah  Ytzaob  kuyen  uincob  lae. 

5.  Uac  Ahau,  chiicuc  u  luumil  Chanputun,  can  Ahau,  cabil  Ahau, 
oxlahun  Ahau,  buluc  Ahau,  bolon  Ahau,  uuc  Ahau  ho  Ahau,  ox  Ahau,  hun 
Ahau,  lahca  Ahau,  lahun  Ajau,  uaxac  Ahau,  paxci  Chanputun,  oxlahun 
kaal  haab  cu  tepalob  Chanputun  tumenel  Ytza  uincob  ca  talob  u  tzacld  u 
yotochob  tu  eaten,  laix  tun  u  katunil  binciob  ah  Ytzaob  yalan  che  yalan 
aban  yalan  ak  ti  numyaob  lae. 

6.  Uac  Ahau,  can  Ahau,  ca  kal  haabcatalob  u  hedzob  yotoch  tu  eaten 
ca  tu  zatahob  Chakanputun. 

7.  Lai  u  katunil  cabil  Ahau,  u  hedzci  cab  Ahcuitok  Tutul  Xiu  Uxmal. 
Cabil  Ahau,  oxlahun  Ahau,  buluc  Ahau,  bolon  Ahau,  uuc  Ahau,  ho  Ahau, 
ox  Ahau,  hun  Ahau,  lahca  Ahau,  lahun  Ahau,  lahun  kal  haab  cu  tepalob 
yetel  u  halach  uinicil  Chichen  Itza  yetel  Mayalpan. 

8.  Lai  u  katunil  buluc  Ahau,  bolon  Ahau,  uac  Ahau,  uaxac  Ahau, 
paxci  u  halach  uinicil  Chichen  Itza  tumenel  u  kebanthau  Hunac-eel,  ca  uch 


THOMAS]  THE  PEREZ  MANUSCRIPT.  189 

ti  Chacxib  chac  Cliichen  Itza  tu  kebanthan  Huuac-eel  u  halach  uinicil 
Mayalpan  ichpac.  Cankal  baab  catac  labun  piz  baab,  tu  labun  tun  uaxac 
Abau  cucbie;  lai  u  baabil  paxci  tumenel  Abzinte-yutcban  yetel  Tzunte-cum, 
yetel  Taxcal,  yetel  Pantemit,  Xucbu-cuet,  yetel  Ytzcuat,  yetel  Kakaltecat 
lay  u  kaba  uinicilob:  lae  nuctulob  abmayapanob  lae. 

9.  Laili  u  katunil  uaxac  Abau,  lai  ca  binob  u  pa  ah  Ulmil  Abau  tume- 
nel u  uabal-uabob  yetel  ah  Ytzmal  Ulil  Abau;  lae  oxiabun  uudz  u  katunilob 
ca  paxob  tumen  Hunac-eel:  tumenel  u  dzabal  u  naatob;  uac  Abau  ca 
dzoci;  bunkal  baab  catac  can  labun  pizi. 

10.  Uac  Abau,  can  Abau,  cabil  Abau,  oxiabun  Abau,  buluc  Abau, 
cbucuc  u  luumil  icb  pS,  Mayalpan,  tumenel  u  pacb  tulum,  tumenel  multepal 
icb  cab  Mayalpan,  tumenel  Ytza  uinicob  yetel  ab  Ulmil  Abau  lae;  can 
kaal  baab  catac  oxppel  baab;  yocol  buluc  Abau  cucbie  paxci  Mayalpan 
tumenel  abuitzil  dzul,  tan  cab  Mayalpan. 

11.  Uaxac  Abau  lay  paxci  Mayalpan  lai  u  katunil  uac  Abau,  can 
Abau,  cabil  Abau,  lai  baab  cu  ximbal  ca  yax  mani  espanoles  u  yaxilci  caa 
luumi  Yucatan  tzucubte  lae,  oxkal  baab  paaxac  icb  pa  cucbie. 

12.  Oxiabun  Abau,  buluc  Abau  ucbci  mayacimil  icb  pa  yetel  nobka- 
kil:  oxiabun  Abau  cimci  Abpula:  uacppel  baab  u  binel  ma  dzococ  u  xocol 
oxiabun  Abau  cucbie,  ti  yanil  u  xocol  baab  ti  lakin  cucbie,  canil  kan  cum- 
labi  pop  tu  bolbun  Zip  catac  oxppeli,  bolon  Ymix  u  kinil  lai  cimi  Abpula; 
laitun  ano  cu  ximbal  cucbi  lae  ca  obeltabac  lay  u  xoc  numeroil  ailos  lae  153G 
anos  cucbie,  oxkal  baab  paaxac  icb  pa  cucbi  lac. 

13.  Laili  ma  dzococ  u  xocol  buluc  Abau  lae  lai  vdci  espanoles  kul 
uincob  ti  lakin  u  talob  ca  uliob  nay  tac  luumil  lae,  bolon  Abau  lioppci 
cristianoil  ucbci  caputzibil:  laili  icbil  u  katunil  lae  ulci  yax  obispo  Toroba 
u  kaba,  lieix  ano  cu  ximbal  ucliie. 

[Translatiou.] 

Tbis  is  tbe  series  of  "Katunes"  tbat  elapsed  from  tbe  time  of  tbeir 
departure  from  tbe  land  and  bouse  of  Nonoual,  in  wbicb  were  tbe  four 
Tutul  Xiu,  lying  to  tbe  west  of  Zuina,  going  out  of  tbe  country  of  Tulapan. 

§  1.  Four  epocbs  were  spent  in  traveling  before  they  arrived  here  witb 
Holon-Cbantepeub  and  bis  followers.  Wben  they  began  their  journey 
towai-d  tbis  island  it  was  the  8th  Abau,  and  the  6th,  4th,  and  2d  were  spent 


390  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCKIPT  TROANO. 

in  traveling;  because  in  the  year  of  the  13th  Ahaii  they  arrived  at  this 
island,  making  together  eighty-one  years  they  were  traveling,  between  their 
departure  from  their  country  and  their  arrival  at  this  island  of  Chacnoui- 
tan.     (Years,  81.) 

§  2.  The  8th  Ahau,  the  6th  Ahau;  in  the  2d  Ahau  arrived  Ajmekat 
Tutul  Xiu,  and  ninety-nine  years  they  remained  in  Chacnouitan.  (Years, 
99.) 

3.  In  this  time  also  took  place  the  discovery  of  the  j^rovince  of  Ziyan- 
caau,  or  Bacalar,  the  4th  Ahau  and  2d  Ahau,  or  sixty  years,  they  had  ruled 
in  Ziyan-caan  when  they  came  here.  During  these  years  of  their  govern- 
ment of  the  province  of  Bacalar  occurred  the  discover}^  of  Chichen  Itza. 
(Years,  60.) 

4.  The  11th  Ahau,  the  9th,  7th,  5th,  3d,  and  1st  Ahau,  or  120  years, 
they  ruled  in  Chichen-Ttza,  when  it  was  destro3'ed,  and  they  emigrated  to 
Champotou,  where  the  Itzaes,  holy  men,  had  houses.     (Years,  120.) 

5.  The  6th  Ahau  they  took  possession  of  the  territory  of  Champoton; 
the  4th  Ahau,  2d,  13th,  11th,  9th,  7th,  5th,  3d,  1st,  12th,  10th,  and  8th 
Champoton  was  destroyed  or  abandoned.  Two  hundred  and  sixty  years, 
the  Itzae.s  reigned  in  Champoton,  when  they  returned  in  search  of  their 
homes,  and  they  lived  for  several  katunes  under  the  uninhabited  mountains. 
(Years,  260.) 

6.  The  6th  Ahau,  4th  Ahau,  after  forty  years,  they  returned  to  their 
homes  once  more,  and  Champoton  was  lost  to  them.     (Years,  40.) 

7.  In  this  Katun  of  the  2d  Ahau,  Ajcuitok  Tutul  Xiu  established  him- 
self in  Uxmal;  the  2d  Ahau,  the  13th,  lltli,  9th,  7th,  5th,  3d,  1st,  the  12th 
and  10th  Ahau,  equal  to  200  years,  they  governed  in  Uxmal,  with  the  gov- 
ernors of  ChichenTtza,  and  of  Mayapan.     (Years  200.) 

8.  These  are  the  Katunes  11th,  9th,  and  6th  Ahau.  In  the  8th 
Ahau  the  governor  of  Chichen-Itza  was  deposed,  because  he  murmured  dis- 
respectfully against  Hunac-eel.  This  happened  to  Chacxibchac  of  Chichen- 
Itza,  governor  of  the  fortress  of  Mayapan.  Ninety  years  had  elapsed,  but 
the  i  0th  year  of  the  oth  Ahau  was  the  year  in  which  he  was  overthrown  by 
Ajzinte-yutchan,  with  Tzuntecum,  Taxcal,  Pantemit,  Xucli-uenet  Ytzcuat, 
and  Kakaltecat;  these  are  the  names  of  the  seven  Mayalpanes.     (Years  90.) 


TuoMAB.]  THE  PEREZ  MANUSCEIPT.  191 

9.  In  the  same  Katun  of  the  8th  Ahau  they  attacked  Chief  Ulmil,  in 
consequence  of  his  quarrel  with  Uhl,  Cliief  of  Yzamal;  thii'teen  divisions 
of  troops  he  had  when  he  was  i-outed  by  Hunac-eel;  in  the  6th  Ahau  the 
war  was  over,  after  34  years.     (Years  34.) 

10.  In  the  6th  Ahau,  4th,  2d,  13th,  and  11th  Ahau,  the  fortified  terri- 
tory of  Mayapan  was  invaded  by  the  men  of  Itza,  under  their  Chief  Uhnil, 
because  they  had  walls,  and  governed  in  common  the  people  of  Mayapan: 
eighty-three  years  elapsed  after  this  event,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  1 1th 
Ahau  Mayapan  was  destroyed  by  strangers  of  the  Uitzes,  Highlanders,  as 
was  also  Tancaj  of  Mayapan.     (Years  83.) 

11.  In  the  8th  Ahau,  Mayapan  was  destroyed,  the  epochs  of  the  6th, 
4th,  and  2d  Ahau  elapsed,  and  at  this  period  the  Spaniards  for  the  first  time 
arrived,  and  gave  the  name  of  Yucatan  to  this  province,  sixty  years  after 
the  destruction  of  the  fortress.     (Years  60.) 

12.  The  13th  and  11th  Ahau,  pestilence  and  small-pox  were  in  the 
castles.  In  the  13th  Ahau  Chief  Ajpula  died;  this  year  was  counted 
toward  the  east  of  the  wheel,  and  began  on  the  4th  Kan.  Ajpula  died 
on  the  18th  day  of  the  month  Zip,  in  the  9th  Ymix;  and  that  it  may  be 
known  in  numbers,  it  was  the  year  1536,  sixty  years  after  the  destruction 
of  the  fortress. 

13.  Before  the  termination  of  the  11th  Ahau  the  Spaniards  arrived. 
Holy  men  from  the  east  came  with  them  when  they  reached  the  land.  The 
9th  Ahau  was  the  commencement  of  baptism  and  Christianity;  and  in  this 
year  was  the  arrival  of  Toroba  (Toral),  the  first  bishop. 

Before  entering  upon  a  discussion  of  this  manuscript  I  will  attempt  to 
connect  the  two  chronological  systems  at  one  or  two  other  points,  in  refer- 
ence to  which  we  find  some  data  left  on  record  besides  that  foiind  in  the 
ipanuscript. 

The  destruction  of  Mayapan  (the  last  one,  if  there  were  two,  as  stated 
by  this  authority)  was  an  important  event  likely  to  be  remembered  by  the 
people  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  as  it  was  the  beginning  of  a 
marked  change  in  the  condition  of  aff'airs  in  Yucatan,  and  occurred,  at  the 
earliest,  not  more  than  a  hundred  years  before  the  first  appearance  of  these 
invaders  on  the  coast  of  this  peninsula. 


192  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCEIPT  TROAiS^O. 

As  I  have  already  shown,  the  important  event  alluded  to  by  Perez  as 
occurring  in  the  year  7  Caiiac  of  the  8th  Ahau,  which  he  fixes  in  1393, 
really  happened  in  1435,  as  we  see  by  correcting  the  manifest  eri-or  of  his 
calculation.  This  event,  I  believe,  was  the  destruction  of  Mayapan,  which 
this  manuscript  asserts  took  place  in  the  8th  Ahau. 

The  two  statements  in  this  document — first  (in  the  11th  paragraph), 
that  the  first  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  at  the  close  of  the  2d  Ahau  (1518), 
was  60  years  after  the  fall  of  Mayapan;  second  (12th  paragraph),  that  the 
year  1536  was  60  years  after  this  event — cannot  both  be  correct;  one  or  the 
other,  or  both,  must  be  erroneous.  Rejecting  the  latter,  and  counting  three 
Ahaues,  the  number  the  author  gives,  at  24  years  each,  instead  of  20  (the 
length  at  which  he  estimates  them),  we  have  72  years,  which,  deducted, 
carries  us  back  to  1446.  This  corresponds  exactly  with  Landa's  computa- 
tion. Herrera^  says  that  this  happened,  "  accoi'ding  to  the  reckoning  of  the 
Indians,  about  seventy  years  \>eiove  the  Spaniards  came  into  Yucatan,"  which 
would  place  it  in  1448.  According  to  the  tables  I  have  given,  the  8th  Ahau 
included  the  years  1423-1446,  which  agrees  exactly  with  Brasseur's  calcu- 
lation {Hist  ties  Nat.  Civ.-),  in  which  work  he  appears  to  have  adopted  24 
years  as  the  number  to  an  Ahau,  instead  of  20,  as  in  his  notes  to  Landa  and 
the  Perez  Manuscript.  As  I  was  not  aware  of  this  fact  until  after  the  preced- 
ing part  of  this  paper  was  delivered  for  publication,  I  call  attention  to  it  now, 
as  it  is  apparent  from  this  that  his  comparison  of  the  dates  of  the  two  systems 
must  agree  throughout  precisely  with  what  is  given  in  my  Table  XVII. 

If  we  are  correct  in  counting  24  years  to  an  Ahau,  then  it  is  certain 
the  8th  must  have  included  from  1423  to  1446;  and  ifthe  document  referred 
to  by  Perez  (which  unfortunately  was  lost)  was  right  in  stating  that  7  Cauac 
was  the  year  of  the  destruction,  it  occurred  in  1435. 

We  learn  from  Herrera  (loc.  cit.)  that  this  city  was  destroyed  five  hundred 
years  after  it  was  built.  As  a  matter  of  course,  this  is  given  in  round  num- 
bers, and  cannot  be  considered  as  exact;  yet  it  will  aff"ord  some  aid  in  our 
comparison.  Deducting  500  from  1435  gives  us  the  year  935  as  the  date 
of  the  founding  of  the  city,  which  may  be  considered  as  at  least  approxi- 
mately correct.  Counting  back  by  Ahaues,  we  ascertain  that  this  would  fall 
in  the  11th  of  the  preceding  grand  cycle. 

'Dec.  Ill,  lib.  vi,  cap.  3.  m,  593. 


THOMAs.i  THE  PEREZ  MANUSUEIPT.  193 

Although,  as  shown  by  Table  XVII,  the  grand  cycles,  if  counted  from 
the  year  1  of  each  period,  would  begin  with  the  1st  Ahau,  yet,  as  the 
Indians  chose,  for  some  reason,  to  begin  these  periods  with  the  13th,  our 
calculations  must  correspond  with  this  arbitrary  selection.  I  therefore  give 
here  a  brief  table  of  cycles,  with  the  corresponding  years  of  our  era,  run- 
ning backward : 

Years. 

Fourth  grand  cycle 1519-1830 

Third  grand  cycle 1207-1518 

Second  grand  cycle 895-1206 

First  grand  cycle 583-  894 

The  numbers  given  the  grand  cycles  are  (for  the  present,  at  least)  arbi- 
trary, given  simply  as  a  means  of  reference.  We  see  from  this  table  that 
the  year  935  would  fall  in  the  gi-and  cycle  numbered  2,  and,  as  before  stated, 
in  the  11th  Ahau.  Referring  to  this  manuscript  again,  we  see  that  Mayapan 
is  first  mentioned  in  the  7th  paragraph,  whei'e  it  is  stated  that  "the  2d  Ahau, 
13th,  11th,  9th,  7th,  5th,  3d,  1st,  12th,  and  10th  Ahau,  200  years,  they  [the 
Tutul  Xiu]  governed  in  Uxmal  with  the  governors  of  Chichen-Itza  and 
Mayapan^ 

Here  we  find  our  llth  with  but  two  Ahaues  preceding  it,  or,  as  we 
judge  from  the  preceding  clause — "In  this  Katun  of  the  2d  Ahau" — but 
one  and  part  of  another.  Supposing  Mayapan  to  have  been  in  existence  at 
the  commencement  of  the  periods  here  named,  it  would  carry  us  back  only 
some  forty  or  fifty  years  beyond  Herrera's  general  statement;  but  this  is 
more  than  accounted  for  by  the  difference  in  the  estimated  length  of  the 
Ahau. 

If  we  count  the  Ahaues  necessary  to  complete  the  number  from  the  2d 
in  the  commencement  of  the  seventh  paragraph  to  the  2d  in  the  eleventh 
paragraph  when  the  Spaniards  first  appeared,  filling  up  the  lacunae  and 
making  the  correction  in  the  eighth  paragraph  suggested  by  Dr.  Valentini, 
we  shall  find  the  number  to  be  as  follows: 

2,  13,  11,  9,  7,  5,  3,  1,  12,  10,  8,  6,  4,  2. 
13,  11,  9,  7,  5,  3,  1,  12,  10,  8,  6,  4,  2. 

Making  27  Ahaues,  or  648  years. 

13  M  T    I  i, 


194         A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TRAONO. 

Deducting-  this  from  1518,  the  time  when  the  Spaniards  appeared  on 
the  coast,  it  carries  us  back  to  the  year  870.  If  carried  back  only  to  the  first 
j-ear  of  the  11th  of  the  first  series,  it  gives  the  year  918,  which  differs  but 
17  years  from  the  date  (935)  given  above  from  Herrera's  statement,  a  differ- 
ence less  than  one  Ahau.  I  am  inclined,  therefore,  to  believe  the  first  line 
of  the  8th  paragraph  properly  belongs  to  the  7th,  and  that  it  was  the  inten- 
tion of  the  writer  to  say  that  "with  the  governors  of  Chichen-Itza  and 
Mayapan  these  Katunes,  11th,  9th  to  the  6th."  In  the  8th  Ahau  trouble 
arose  between  the  parties  to  the  compact,  but  the  war  did  not  end  until  in 
the  6th.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  chronicler's  data  mentioned  the 
11th  Ahau  as  the  beginning  of  the  compact,  and  that  this  was  near  the  time 
when  Mayapan  was  built. 

According  to  Herrera,  Chichen-Itza  was  already  in  existence  when 
Cuculkan  appeared  and  founded  Ma3'apan.  He  further  states  that  "whilst 
the  Cocomes  [who  were  given  authority  immediately  after  Cuculkan's  de- 
parture] lived  in  this  regular  manner,  there  came  from  the  southward,  and 
the  foot  of  the  mountains  of  Lacando,  great  numbers  of  people,  looked 
upon  for  certain  to  have  been  of  the  province  of  Chiapa,  who  traveled  forty 
years  about  the  deserts  of  Yucatan,  and  at  length  arrived  at  the  mountains 
that  are  almost  opposite  to  the  city  of  I\Iayapan,  where  they  settled  and 
raised  good  structures,  and  the  people  of  Mayapan  some  years  after,  liking 
their  way  of  living,  sent  to  invite  them  to  build  houses  for  their  lords  in 
the  city.  The  Tutid-Xiu,  so  the  strangers  were  called,  accepting  of  their 
courtesy,  came  into  the  city,  and  their  people  spread  about  the  country,  sub- 
mitting themselves  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  Mayapan,  in  such  peaceable 
manner  that  they  had  no  sort  of  weapons,  killing  tlieir  game  with  gins  and 
traps."     (Loc.  cit) 

This  agrees  precisely  with  the  order  of  events  in  the  Manuscript,  except 
that  nothing  is  mentioned  corresponding  with  the  40  j-ears  of  the  Gth  para- 
graph 

In  the  prophecy  by  Nahau  Pech,  preserved  in  Lizana's  work  and  copied 
by  Brasseur  into  the  chrestomathy  of  his  Maya  grammar,  these  passages 
occur: 

"We  have  come  now  to  the  fourth  period,"  or  perhaps  more  correctly. 


THOMAS]  THE  PEREZ  MANUSCRIPT.  195 

3.  "  The  time  to  the  fourth  series  of  epochs  draws  to  a  close," 

4.  "In  which  shall  be  ushered  in  the  day  of  the  true  God."     Also, 

8.  "Such  is  the  prophecy  of  Nahau  Pech,  the  priest, 

9.  "At  the  time  of  the  fourth  great  cycle  (Ahau  Katun). 
10.  "In  the  commencement  actual  of  the  series  of  epochs."^ 

The  rendering  of  Katunil,  here  translated  "series  of  epochs,"  is  uncer- 
tain. In  Stephens's  translation  of  the  Perez  Manuscript  it  is  sometimes  ren- 
dered "Katunes,"  sometimes  "Katun";  in  Brasseur's translation,  "periods," 
"cycle,"  and  in  Lizana'.s,  "edades"  or  ages  The  definition  of  the  word  as 
given  in  Brasseur's  lexicon  (it  is  not  found  in  full  in  Perez's  lexicon)  is 
"Ensemble  des  ^poques  ou  cycles." 

It  is  true  that  "Ahau  Katun"  is  sometimes  used  as  equivalent  to 
"Ahau,"  but  this  is  very  rarely,  if  ever,  found  in  the  few  Maya  documents 
that  remain  to  us.  The  true  rendering  appears  to  be  "Grand  or  Great 
Cycle,"  as  given  in  the  9th  line  of  Nahau  Pech's  prophecy.  If  this  inter- 
pretation, which  is  that  given  by  Abbe  Brasseur,  is  the  correct  one,  we  then 
find  here  the  number  of  one  of  the  great  cycles.  To  suppose  that  the 
number  here  refers  to  the  Ahau  will  carry  this  prophecy  back  to  the  year 
1470-'71,  which  is  improbable. 

The  prophecy  of  Chilam  Balam  commences  with  Ox  laJmn  ahau  u 
liedzinil  Icatun,  the  literal  translation  of  which  is,  according  to  Brasseur, 
"The  thirteenth  Ahau  its  foundation  of  the  Katun";  probably  equivalentto 
Lizana's  Spanish  "In  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  age." 

It  is  obvious  from  the  contents  of  this  prophecy  that  it  was  made  after 
the  arinval  of  the  Spaniards  in  that  country,  and  after  their  appearance  and 
religion  became  known;  hence,  as  it  was  delivered  in  the  13th  Ahau,  it 
must  have  been  between  the  years  1518  and  1641.     It  is  not  probable  that 

'  Dr.  Brinton,  following  Lizan.a,  translates  the  whole  prophecy  as  follows: 
1.  "  What  time  the  sun  shall  brightest  shine, 
?.  Tearful  will  be  the  eyes  of  the  king. 

3.  Four  ages  yet  shall  be  inscribed, 

4.  Then  shall  come  the  holy  priest,  the  holy  god. 

5.  With  grief  I  speak  what  now  I  see. 

6.  Watch  well  the  road  ye  dwellers  in  Itza. 

7.  The  master  of  the  earth  shall  come  to  us. 

8.  Thus  prophecies  Nahau  Pech,  the  seer, 

9.  In  the  days  of  the  fourth  age, 
10.  At  the  time  of  its  beginning." 


196 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 


the  one  by  Nahau  Pecli  (a  ^yell-known  family  at  the  time  of  Montejo's 
arrival)  is  many  years  older,  probably  dating  the  first  year  of  the  13tli 
Ahau,  which  would,  according  to  his  statement,  be  the  first  of  the  4th  gi-eat 
cycle. 

If  we  assume  that  these  great  periods  were  numbered  in  regular  order, 
1,  2,  3,  4,  which  is  more  than  probable,  as  they  were  but  seldom  referred 
to,  then  we  have  evidence  here  that  the  Itzae  record  ran  back  three  great 
cycles — 936  years  before  the  year  A.  D.  1519,  that  is  to  the  year  ft83  of 
the  Christian  era.  In  order  that  we  may  compare  this  calculation  with  the 
manuscript,  I  will  give  here  a  list  of  the  Ahaues,  commencing  with  number 
8,  previous  to  the  beginning  of  the  1  st  great  cj'cle  as  counted  after  Nahau 
Pech,  with  the  years  of  the  Christian  era  corresponding  to  their  last  years. 


Abaaes  preced- 

ing. 

(O 

a 

cS 

^ 

eS 

<1 

H? 

lOth 

486 

8tli* 

510 

6th 

534 

4th 

558 

2d 

582 

First  Great 

Second  Great 

Third  Great 

Cycle. 

Cycle. 

Cycle. 

1 

aj 

s 

<3 

i 

Ahaues. 

Last  years. 

i 
i 

.a 
<1 

13th 

606 

13th 

918 

13th 

1230 

11th 

630 

11th 

942 

11th 

1254 

9th 

654 

9th 

966 

9th 

1278 

7th 

678 

7th 

990 

7th 

1302 

5th 

702 

5th 

1014 

5th 

1326 

3d 

726 

3d 

1038 

3d 

1350 

1st 

750 

1st 

1062 

1st 

1374 

12th 

774 

12th 

1086 

12th 

1398 

10th 

798 

10th 

1110 

10th 

1422 

8th 

822 

8th 

1134 

8th 

1446 

6th 

846 

6th 

1158 

6th 

1470 

4th 

870 

4th 

1182 

4th 

1494 

2d 

894 

2d 

1206 

2d 

1518 

The  three  great  cycles  completed  at  the  time  of  Nahau  Pech's  proph- 
ecy (if  such  be  the  proper  interpretation  of  his  words)  I  presume  beign 


THOMAs.i  THE  PEREZ  MANUSCRIPT.  197 

with  the  founding  of  Chichen  Itza,  which,  according  to  my  calculation, 
would  be  about  583-606  (the  13th  Ahau).  It  is  a  little  remarkable  that 
the  first  mention  of  this  city  occurs  in  the  close  of  the  third  paragraph, 
exactly  where  the  13th  Ahau  must  be  inserted  to  fill  a  hiatus. 

The  number  of  years  given  and  periods  mentioned  in  the  first  three 
paragraphs  cannot  by  any  possible  explanation  be  made  to  agree  with  each 
other.  This  part  of  the  history  of  the  Tutul-Xiu  race  is  doubtless  made  up 
from  a  dim  tradition  in  reference  to  which  no  chronological  statement  could 
be  made.  As  any  attempt  to  determine  the  length  of  time  they  were 
wandering,  from  the  date  of  their  departure  from  Tulapan  until  they  settled 
at  Chichen-Itza,  would  be  wholly  conjectural,  we  will,  perhaps,  be  as  near 
right  as  any  other  guess,  if  we  assume  that  the  8th  Ahau  of  the  second 
paragraph  is  the  same  as  the  8th  of  the  first,  in  other  words,  that  the  num- 
bers in  the  second  are  but  a  recapitulation  of  those  in  the  first,  and  that 
the  13th  in  the  latter  is  the  one  which  precedes  the  1 1th  in  the  fourth  para- 
graph. Supposing  the3'  started  on  their  travels  in  the  8th  Ahau,  this  would 
bring  this  event  between  the  years  486-510. 

As  the  author  of  this  manuscript  counted  twenty  years  to  an  Ahau  and 
I  count  twenty-four,  our  lists  cannot  possibly  agree.  If  there  are  any 
numbers  given,  connected  with  particular  and  noted  events,  which  numbers 
were  given  in  the  author's  data,  with  these  my  enumeration,  if  correct, 
might  coincide.  The  fall  of  Mayapan  in  the  8th  Ahau,  the  appearance  of 
the  Spaniards  on  the  coast  in  the  2d,  and  the  death  of  Ajpula  in  the  13th, 
I  think  may  be  relied  upon  as  events  correctly  dated. 

If  we  count  the  years  enumerated  from  the  2d  Ahau  in  the  seventli 
paragraph,  where  Mayapan  is  first  mentioned,  to  the  8th,  in  the  eleventh 
paragraph,  when  the  second  destruction  of  this  city  occurred,  we  find  the 
number  to  be  367;  adding'  in  the  missing  epochs  at  twenty  years  each,  we 
have  527,  which  agrees  very  well  with  Herrera's  statement.  But  this  gives 
us  something-  over  twenty-six  of  these  periods,  whereas  the  correct  number 
would  be  twenty-two.  The  exact  numbers  (of  years)  given  in  the  ninth 
and  tenth  paragraphs  render  it  possible  that  these  were  obtained  from  the 
author's  data. 


.Mi" 


■ii-f^-n 


CHAPTER    IX. 

INSCRIPTIONS  ON  THE  PALENQUE  TABLET. 

In  referring  to  the  Tablet  I  will  make  nse  of  Di-.  Rau's  scheme  of  num- 
bering and  lettering  the  characters  which  is  given  below.  In  order  to  avoid 
introducing  small  cuts  of  separate  characters,  I  have  requested  that  a  copy 
of  his  plate  of  the  entire  Tablet  be  inserted  (Plate  IX). 

A  slight  examination  of  this  tablet  is  sufficient  to  convince  any  one 
familiar  with  the  characters  of  the  Manuscript  Troano  that  there  are  here 
symbols  of  days  and  months  corresponding  almost  exactly  with  those  of 
that  work.  Whether  the  Ma3^a  calendar  was  the  one  used  cannot  be  deter- 
mined with  certainty,  but  that  it  was  very  similar  cannot  be  doubted.  I 
shall  assume  for  the  present  that  it  was,  but  in  order  tliat  the  reader  may 
have  before  him  the  data  necessary  for  comparison  will  introduce  here  the 
names  of  the  days  of  the  Chiapan  (or  Tzendal)  and  Soeonuscan  calendar  in 
the  order  given  by  Veytia,  and  also  of  the  Quiche  and  Cakchiquel  calen- 
dars as  given  by  Bancroft. 


Chiapan  (Tzendal  ?)  and  Soconuscan. 

Quiche  and  Cakchiquel. 

Votan. 

Iniox. 

Chanan  or  Ghanau. 

Ig- 

Abah  or  Abagh. 

Akbal. 

Tox. 

Qat. 

J\J  oxic. 

Can. 

Lainbat. 

Carney. 

Molo  or  Mulu. 

Quieh. 

Elab  or  Elah. 

Ganel. 

Batz. 

Toh. 

Evob  or  Enob. 

Tzy. 

Been. 

Batz. 

Hix. 

Ci. 

Tziquin. 

Ah. 

X98 

THE  PALENQUE  TABLET. 


199 


Chiapan  (Tzendal?)  and  Soconuscan. 
Cbabiii  or  Obahiu. 
Chic  or  Chiue. 
CLiaax. 

Cahogh  or  Cabogb. 
Agbual. 
Imox  or  Mox. 
Igh  or  Ygb. 


Quiche  and  Cakchiqubl. 
Yiz  or  Itz. 
Tziquin. 
Ahmak. 
Nob. 
Tihaz. 
Caok. 
Hunabpu. 


I  shall  take  for  granted  that  the  inscription  commences  with  the  large 
character  in  the  vipper  left-hand  corner,  but  whether  it  is  to  he  read  in  col- 
umns from  top  to  bottom,  or  in  lines  from  left  to  rig-ht,  remains  to  be  dis- 
cussed; the  tendency  of  belief  at  present  appears  to  be  that  it  is  to  be  read 
in  lines  from  left  to  right. 

As  I  have  demonstrated,  satisfactorily  to  myself  at  least,  that  in  the 
Manuscript  Troano  the  characters  are,  as  a  general  rule,  placed  in  columns 
to  be  read  from  the  top  downwards,  but  that,  where  circumstances  require 
it,  they  are  placed  in  lines  to  be  read  from  left  to  right,  we  will  be  justified 


A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

G  H  I   K  L 


M 


N 


20 


02 


0  P  Q 

R 

s 

T 

U 

V  wx 

1    1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
S 
10 
II 
12 
13 
K 
15 

— 

4 

5 

6 

7 

— 

3 

9 

10 

II 

12 

n 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

Fig.  101. — Dr.  Eau's  index  diagram  of  tbe  inscriiition. 

in  assuming  the  same  rule  applies  to  this  tablet,  especially  as  we  here  see 
single  columns  and  single  lines.  But  let  us  examine  the  inscription  care- 
fully and  see  if  we  can  find  anything  in  it  that  will  aid  us  in  deciding  this 


200         A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

point.  In  doing-  so  we  may  profit  by  the  facts  learned  in  reference  to  the 
Manuscript  Ti-oano  on  this  subject,  and  tlie  method  of  comparing  characters 
used  by  Professor  Holden  in  liis  "Studies  in  Central  American  Picture 
Writing."^ 

Referring  to  the  Palenquean  group  as  shown  in  Plate  IX,  we  observe 
that  the  first  seven  characters  of  the  two  columns  immediately  below  the 
large  initial  are  united  so  that  each  forms  one  compound  character.  If  read 
in  columns  the  natural  inference  from  this  would  be  that  the  remaining 
characters  of  these  two  columns  are  to  be  read  by  twos,  thus:  A  10  and  B  10 
(Dr.  Rau's  scheme),  then  All  and  B  11,  next  A  12  and  B  12,  and  so  on  to 
the  bottom.  If  this  supposition  be  correct,  then  it  is  more  than  likely  that 
the  remaining  columns  on  the  side  tablets  are  to  be  read  in  the  same  way, 
a  view  favored  by  the  fact  that  each  one  of  these  tablets  contains  six  cohunns. 

I  call  attention  now  to  characters  D  13,  C  14,  and  D  14,  which  are  often 
rejjeated  in  the  inscription,  varying  only  in  the  numerals — dots,  or  balls,  and 
lines  placed  at  the  top  and  left  side.  If  we  represent  these  characters  by 
letters  thus:  D  13  by  a,  C  14  by  6,  and  D  14  by  c,  we  have  here  this  order 


61  c 


.     Referring  now  to  E  5,  F  5,  and  E  6,  we  find  the  same  three  charac- 


ters following  each  other  in  the  same  order,  but  placed  thus:  — — ,  and 


a  1  b 

c  1 

what  is  significant,  if  we  include  the  next,  F  6,  we  have  the  right  portion 
of  the  first  four  (of  the  seven)  double  chai-acters,  but  the  order  is  reversed. 
At  F  15,  E  16,  and  F  16  we  again  have  our  three  characters  a,  h,  c.  In  the 
single  column  R  we  see  a  and  h.  At  S  6  and  T  6  we  liave  the  three,  but 
here  b  and  c  are  united  in  one  compound  character.  At  S  12  and  T  12  we 
see  a  and  b ;  at  U  3,  V  3,  and  U  4;  also  at  U  8,  V  8,  and  U  9 ;  also  V  1 3,  U  14, 
and  V  14;  at  W  1,  X  1,  and  W  2,  and  at  X  1 1,  W  12,  and  X  12,  we  find  the 
same  three  characters  following  each  other  in  the  same  order.  We  shall 
hunt  in  vain  for  any  such  combination  of  these  characters  between  the  sec- 
ond and  third  or  fourth  and  fifth  columns  of  either  slab,  nor  can  we  find 
the  three  following  each  other  in  any  column  or  line  except  in  the  four 
doul)le  characters. 

'  First  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology. 


£J  ^  ^^  "K  1- 1'^  ;irrj.;;:jf?)^gj,  xI^Sv^j^ 


THE  PALENQUE  TABLET. 


201 


As  another  example  we  select  the  two  characters,  S  1  and  T  1,  which 
are  often  found  associated;  as  at  U  6,  V  6;  U  16,  V  16;  W  3,  X  3;  and 
at  W  17  and  X  17,  we  find  them  in  the  same  line,  but  always  in  the  two 
columns  they  should  be,  if  the  theory  above  advanced  as  to  the  order 
in  which  the  inscription  is  to  be  read  be  correct.  If  the  first  of  these 
two  characters  (which  we  may  designate  by  m  and  n)  should  fall  in  the 
right  of  the  two  associate  columns,  then  the  other  should  be  one  line  lower 


in  the  left  of  the  two  columns,  thus: 


m 

n 

Such  we  find  to  be  the  case 


a 

b 
e 

d 

m 

11 

Kan 

by  referring  to  T  7,  S  8,  to  T  15,  S  16,  and  V  1 1,  U  12.  But  the  evidence 
does  not  stop  here.  By  examining  Dr.  Rau's  photograph  of  the  right  tablet, 
we  may  extend  this  combination.  We  observe  that  S  6,  our  a,  and  T  6, 
our  b  and  c  combined,  are  followed  in  S  7  by  a  character  not  heretofore 
alluded  to.  This  we  will  designate  by  d.  Following  these,  at 
T  7  is  our  m,  at  S  8  our  n,  and  at  T  8  Kan,  as  shown  in  the 
annexed  diagram  1. 

Commencing  with  V  13  we  find  the  same  combination, 
except  that  one  additional  character  is  introduced  thus:  V  13  a, 
U  14  &,  V  14  c,  J]  15  d,y  15  X,  (the  introduced  character  is  x,)  \J  16  w, 
V  16  w,  U  17  Kan,  as  shown  in  diagram  2. 

Referring  now  to  the  figure  of  the  Tablet  on  the  back 
wall  of  Altar  Casa  No  3,  forming  the  frontispiece  of  Stephen's 
"Central  America,"  Vol.  II,  we  see  that  there  are  four  columns 
of  characters  on  each  side.  At  the  bottom  of  the  second  col- 
umn of  the  right  side  we  find  our  character  a,  and  at  the  top 
of  columns  three  and  four  our  characters  b  and  c  precisely  as 
they  should  follow  according  to  our  theory. 

Turning  again  to  our  Plate  IX  and  going  over  the  entii-e  inscription  in 
this  way,  taking  two  columns  together,  thus,  AB,  CD,  EF,  ST,  UV,  and 
WX,  we  shall  find  frequent  repetitions  of  such  combinations,  not  to  be 
found  in  any  other  way.  The  full  force  of  this  statement  cannot  be  under- 
stood except  by  a  thorough  and  careful  study  of  the  plate.     If  I  am  cor- 


a 

b 

c 

d 

X 

m 

n 

Kan 

202         A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

rect  ill  this  opinion  we  will  thereby  be  enabled  to  determine  some  doubtful 
characters,  as,  for  example,  that  F  7,  E  8  are  the  same  as  S  1,  T  1,  &c. 

Accoi'ding  to  this  theory,  the  lines  and  columns  in  the  middle  portion 
of  the  Tablet  should  be  read  from  the  left  to  the  right  along  the  lines  until 
a  column  is  reached,  and  then  down  the  column  thus:  G,  H,  I,  K,  to  L,  and 
then  down  the  L  column ;  down  the  0  colunni  then  P  and  Q.  Now,  let  us 
test  this :  In  0  3  we  see  the  hand  of  our  character  m,  although  the  loop  is  to 
the  right.  If  it  is  the  same  as  m,  then  P  1  should  be  our  n ;  but  the  char- 
acter as  given  b}'  Cathenvood  is  too  imperfect  to  see  any  resemblance.  But 
if  we  turn  to  Waldeck's  plate  or  Dr.  Rau's  copy  (Palenque  Tablet,  p.  33,  Fig. 
7),  we  see  the  head  and  protruding  tongue  characteristic  of  character  n. 

These  facts,  I  think,  are  sufficient  to  establish  the  correctness  of  my 
theory. 

The  lines  and  dots  at  the  left  and  on  the  top  of  the  characters  I  am 
satisfied  are  numerals  having  the  same  signification  as  those  in  the  Manu- 
script— that  is,  a  single  dot  1;  two  dots,  2,  and  so  on;  a  single  line,  5;  two 
lines,  10,  and  so  on.  Tliose  on  the  top  of  the  characters  I  think  correspond 
with  the  red  numerals  in  the  Manuscript,  for  if  we  examine  them  we  find 
*none  of  them  exceed  thirteen.  Those  on  the  side  I  think  refer  in  some 
cases  to  the  number  of  the  month,  in  others  to  the  day  of  the  month  or  the 
number  of  the  day.  Where  the  character  is  the  symbol  of  a  day,  and  has 
numerals  also  on  top,  those  on  the  side  I  think  refer  to  the  number  of  the 
month,  as  they  never  exceed  1 8.  When  the  character  is  the  symbol  of  a 
month,  then,  they  denote  the  day  of  the  month,  as  we  see  that  in  some  cases 
they  exceed  18,  but  never  exceed  20.  Where  the  character  is  the  symbol 
of  a  day  and  has  numerals  at  the  side  only,  these  I  think  denote  the  number 
of  the  day,  as  they  never  exceed  13.  The  little  balls  and  loops  at  the 
bottom,  and  also  the  loops  so  frequent  at  the  left  side,  and  occasionally 
found  on  the  top  of  the  characters,  have  been,  and  to  a  certain  extent  are 
yet,  a  profound  mystery;  but  a  careful  study  of  the  little  loops  at  the  left 
side,  and  also  of  part  of  those  at  the  top,  will  show  that  they  have  no  sig- 
nification whatever,  but  are  left  to  fill  out  the  squares  and  to  form  supports 
or  guards  to  the  little  ball  (or  balls) — or  numeral  character  for  1  (or  2) — in 
connection  with  which  they  are  chiefly  used.     If  we  examine  the  inscrip- 


THOMAS.]  THE  PALENQUE  TABLET.  203 

tion  CcarefuUy,  we  shall  find  that  they  are  never  placed  at  the  left  where  the 
outer  or  left  line  of  the  numeral  character  is  3,  4,  or  5.  On  the  contrary, 
they  are.  always  (with  two  exceptions)  present  where  the  left  numeral  line 
is  one — that  is,  a  single  dot — and  occasionally  where  there  are  two. 

The  exceptions  are  R  2  and  T  2;  but  an  examination  of  the  tablet  in  the 
National  Museum  shows  very  clearly  that  they  have  been  broken  off  the 
latter  and  that  they  were  probably  originally  on  the  former.  Why  do  they 
accompany  only  those  numerals  with  one  or  two  dots  at  the  left  and  no 
others?  My  answer  is,  simply  to  complete  the  square.  This  will  probably 
explain  the  presence  of  small  characters  or  irregular  balls  on  the  foreheads 
of  some  of  the  heads.  The  loops  and  balls  at  the  bottom  of  the  characters 
probably  have  some  particular  signification,  as  something  similar  is  observed 
in  the  Manuscripts,  as,  for  example,  under  the  symbol  for  the  month  Pax. 

I  will  now  ask  the  reader  to  refer  to  Plate  IX,  representing  the  tablet. 
He  will  observe  on  each  side  and  near  to  the  upright  of  the  cross  two  char- 
acters— four  in  all,  two  in  the  column  marked  M  and  two  in  that  marked 
N.  He  is  aware,  from  what  has  been  shown  in  the  previous  part  of  this 
paper,  that  in  the  Tro.  Manuscript  each  division  of  the  plates,  or  each 
compartment,  has  at  the  left  a  colunm  of  days,  usually  five  in  number, 
though  in  a  few  instances  there  are  but  four.  The  four  symbols  by  the 
cross  I  think  are  for  precisely  the  same  purpose  as  these  day  columns,  and 
that  the  numeral  five,  at  the  side  of  each,  probably  corresponds  with  that 
placed  over  the  colunms.  As  the  upper  left-hand  character  (M  1)  is  Ezanah, 
the  equivalent  of  Chinax  in  the  Chiapan  calendar,  which,  according  to 
Veytia's  list,  is  one  of  the  year-bearers,  we  might  presume  the  four  repre- 
sent the  four  year-bearers,  Votan,  Lanibat,  Been,  and  Chinax,  or  their  Maya 
equivalents  Akhal,  Lamat,  Been,  and  Ezanah.  But  one  objection  to  this  sup- 
position is  that  the  lower  character  at  the  i-ight  (N  2)  does  not  con-espond 
with  the  symbol  of  either  of  these  days,  but  appears  to  be  the  same  as  (B 
10)  on  the  left  slab,  which  is  probably  Cimi  of  the  Maya  or  Tox  of  the 
Chiapan  list  of  days.  But  in  these  four  characters  Catherwood,  usually  so 
accurate,  appears  to  be  at  fault,  and  Waldeck  correct. 

Turning  now  to  the  general  inscription  on  the  left  and  right,  I  will 
endeavor  to  pick  out  and  name  tlie  day  characters,  first  notifying  the  reader 


204 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSGEirT  TROANO. 


that  there  are  two  classes  of  these,  one  with  numerals  at  the  left  side  only, 
the  other  with  numerals  both  above  and  at  the  side. 

The  little  loops  are  not  counted  as  units  except  when  I  am  satisfied 
from  an  examination  of  the  right  slab  in  the  museum  that  they  denote 
spaces  from  which  the  balls  have  fallen.  Where  I  am  satisfied  the  charac- 
ter represents  a  day,  but  cannot  determine  what  day,  this  fact  will  be  indi- 
cated by  an  interrogation-point;  the  names  in  reference  to  which  I  am  in 
considerable  doubt  will  also  be  followed  by  an  interrogation-point.  The 
capital  letters  with  numbers  attached  are  given  to  locate  the  characters  by 
Dr.  Rau's  scheme. 

Days  indicated  on  the  Tablet,  icith  their  accompanyinij  numerals. 


B   10. 

The  day    5  Cimi. 

A 

IG. 

The  day    1  Ahau. 

B   IC. 

The  day  13           ?. 

C 

2. 

The  day    8           !. 

C     9. 

The  day  13  Manik  1 

C 

11. 

The  day  10          !. 

D     1. 

The  day    ?  Chuen,  ?  month. 

D 

3. 

The  day    4  Ahau. 

D     5. 

The  day    9  Ghuen,  2d  month. 

D 

11. 

The  day    8 !  (Eb?). 

D  13. 

The  day  12  Chuen,  ?  month. 

E 

1. 

The  day    9  Manik  ?. 

E  10. 

The  day    7  Chuen,  2d  month. 

E 

9. 

The  day    9  Manik  ?, 

F  n. 

The  day    3 ?  (Oc.?). 

F 

10. 

The  day  10          ?. 

F  15. 

The  day    7  Chuen,  13th  month. 

F 

12. 

The  day    9  Manik  1 

L     7. 

The  day    8           ?,  12th  month. 

G 

1. 

The  day    9           ?. 

E     5. 

The  day  11  Chuen,  2d  !  month. 

O 

1. 

The  day    8  Muluc. 

S     4. 

The  day    5- 1 

S 

6. 

The  day    5  Chuen,  14th  month. 

S   11. 

The  day     ?  Lamat. 

s 

12. 

The  day    3  Chuen,  9th  month. 

S   14. 

The  day    2 1 

s 

15. 

The  day    C  Chuen,  3d  mouth. 

T     2. 

The  day  11  Kan. 

T 

8. 

The  day    1  Kan. 

T  10. 

The  day    6 1. 

T 

14. 

The  day  10 1 

T  17. 

The  day    8  Ahau. 

TJ 

3. 

The  day    1  Chuen,  18th  month. 

U    7. 

The  day    3  Ezanab. 

U 

8. 

The  day  10  ?  Chuen,  18th  month, 

U  10. 

The  day    5  Ahau  1 

U17. 

The  day    5  Kan. 

V     7. 

The  day  11 1. 

VIO. 

The  day       ?  Chuen,  3d  month. 

V  12. 

The  day    5 ?. 

V  13. 

The  day    6  Chuen,  ICth  month. 

W    1. 

The  day    4  Chuen,  17th  month. 

WIS. 

The  day    8  Chuen,  2d  month. 

X    5. 

The  day    2  Ymix. 

X 

C. 

The  day    1  Chuen,  1st  month. 

X  10. 

The  day    7  Kan. 

X  11. 

The  day    4  Chuen,  7th  month. 

X  14. 

The  day    3  Eb,  11th  month. 

R 

2 

The  day  11  Chuen,  0th  month. 

Of  this  list,  T  IC,  T  14,  and  V  7  may  represent  the  month  Xul  instead 
of  -a  day.  It  is  possible  that  C  5  (8  Cauac  1),  F  G  (2  Cauac ),  and  U  2  (9 
Cauac)  should  be  added  to  the  list  as  representing  the  days  noted  in  paren- 
thesis.    The  day  Chuen  appears  to  be  much  oftener  indicated  than  any 


THOMAsi  THE  PALBNQUE  TABLET.  205 

other.  We  shfill  also  find  that  the  same  tiling  is  true  in  reference  to  one  of 
the  months.  I  am  in  great  doubt  as  to  the  character  rendered  Manik, 
which  here  resembles  the  Greek  tail.  S  14  is  probably  the  symbol  of 
Lamat. 

One  singular  fact  to  be  noticed  is  that  the  form  of  the  Kan  symbol — 
for  example,  U  17,  as  given  in  Dr.  Rau's  photograph — is  more  like  Landa's 
figure  than  the  Kan  symbol  in  the  Tro  Manuscript. 

As  I  find  no  month  characters  in  the  Manuscript  to  assist  me  in  judg- 
ing of  the  variations  in  form,  and  as  I  have  not  thoroughly  studied  those 
in  the  Codex,  I  feel  greater  uncertainty  as  to  those  found  on  the  Tablet 
than  I  do  in  regard  to  the  daj^  characters.  Pax  seems  to  be  the  month 
oftenest  represented ;  in  fact,  but  few  others  appear  to  be  indicated.  The 
following  characters  I  think  represent  this  month: 

C  14,  F  5,  R  3,  T  12,   U  14,  V  3,  V  8,  W  7,  X  1,  and  X  15. 

The  following  are  also  probably  month  symbols : 
F  1,  L9,  T4,  U  ],  V17,  W  11. 

I  am  satisfied  from  the  presence  of  numerals  that  there  are  other  day 
and  month  symbols  than  those  mentioned,  but  on  account  of  my  doubt  as 
to  which  class  they  belong  will  not  attempt  now  to  decide. 

If  the  reader  will  examine  carefully  the  character  V  14,  especially  on 
Dr.  Rau's  photograph,  he  will  see  that  it  is  almost  identical  with  that  in  the 
Manuscript  I  have  rendered  ^ecwa/i  "tortilla  of  maize"  (see  Fig.  64). 

Comparing  this  with  the  large  initial,  we  find  but  a  slight  difference 
between  the  two;  in  the  latter  the  comb-like  figures  are  drawn  down  to  the 
sides  and  the  loops  are  placed  above.  In  this  the  form  of  the  central  oval 
is  not  to  be  relied  upon  as  strictly  correct,  as  the  lines  are  too  freely 
rounded;  still  we  presume  it  is  slightly  different  from  the  little  upper  circle 
in  V  14.  Supposing  the  Maya  language  to  have  been  used,  and  the  char- 
acters on  the  Tablet  to  have  the  same  signification  as  similar  characters  in 
the  Manuscript,  we  should  find  in  this  initial  sounds  closely  resembling 
those  in  pecuah ;  as  the  bars  are  interlaced,  I  presume  the  first  syllable  should 
\)Q  pech  or  pack.  Turning  to  Landa's  Relacion  (264),  we  find  that  "In  the 
month  Pax  they  [the  Mayas]  celebrated  a  festival  named  Paciimchac,  on  which 
occasion  the  chiefs  and  priests  of  the  inferior  villages  assembling  with  those  of 


206  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

the  more  important  towns,  having  joined  together,  they  passed  into  the  tem- 
ple of  CUchaccoh,'^  &(i}  If  we  interpret  this  character  Pacmnchac,  we  at  once 
find  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  repeated  occurrence  of  the  symbol  tor 
Pax  in  the  inscription.  From  Landa's  description,  which  is  somewhat  con- 
fused, I  judge  this  was  one  of  their  chief  festivals,  but  nothing  appears  in 
his  statement  that  accords  with  the  scene  on  the  middle  slab.  This,  how- 
ever, cannot  be  properly  urged  as  an  objection  to  ray  rendering;  first, 
because  there  were  doubtless  many  formalities  which  he  does  not  mention; 
second,  because  the  ceremonies  of  this  festival  as  practiced  at  Palenque  may 
have  been  quite  different  from  those  observed  by  Landa;  third,  there  are 
some  reasons  for  believing,  even  from  Landa's  words,  that  during  this  festival 
petitions  for  rain  and  abundant  crops  were  ofi"ered.  I  presume  also  that 
during  this  festival  took  place  the  rejoicing  over  the  first  fruits  of  the  maize 
harvest.  I  may  as  well  state  here  as  elsewhere  that  I  do  not  think  the 
offering  made  by  tlie  2?riest  on  the  right  is  an  infant;  the  probability  is  that 
it  is  a  dough  image.  Although  we  see  what  appear  to  be  the  body  and 
limbs,  we  have  to  assume  that  the  head  wears  a  mask  to  believe  it  to  be  the 
body  of  a  child.  If  it  is  the  figure  of  a  child,  then  the  scene  represents  a 
special  occasion  when  the  sacrifice  was  made  to  avert  some  impending 
danger.  The  difference  in  the  height  of  the  two  priests  f;ivor  the  idea  that 
the  artist  referred  by  his  figures  to  particular  persons,  if  not  to  a  special 
occasion.  Finally,  it  is  possible  that  although  the  inscription  relates  chiefly 
to  this  festival  others  are  also  alluded  to.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  I  have 
reached  my  conclusion  as  to  the  rendering  by  legitimate  steps. 

The  second  compound  character  in  the  column  is  composed  of  three 
parts,  the  two  to  the  right,  which  are  alike,  resembling,  in  some  respects, 
the  symbol  of  Imix,  and  in  others,  if  the  marks  can  be  trusted,  the  hiero- 
gh'pli  of  Cauac  and  cu.  We  find  almost  px-ecisely  the  same  combination  in 
the  right-hand  (second)  column,  Plate  XX  of  the  Manuscript,  except  that 
the  two  similar  parts  are  above  the  face.  The  face  in  this  case  is  almost 
exactly  like  that  I  have  interpreted  Xamin,  "north."  What  is  also  a  little 
significant,  we  find  immediately  below  it  the  Pax  or  stone  symbol  just  as 
we  do  here. 

'  Appendix  No.  :?,  O. 


THOMAS]  THE  PALENQUE  TABLET.  207 

Another  fact  whicli  should  be  taken  into  consideration  is  that  U  2 
appears  to  be  identical  with  the  two  similar  parts  of  this  character.  It 
undoubtedly  denotes  a  month  or  day.  If  a  month,  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  determine  which;  if  a  day,  it  is  undoubtedly  Cauac,  or  the  Chiapan 
equivalent,  Cahogh. 

Turning  to  the  middle  plate  between  pages  158  and  159,  Stephens's 
Central  America,  Vol.  I,  we  observe  that  the  third  group  from  the  bottom 
of  the  right  column  appears  to  be  substantially  the  same  as  this  (A  B  3). 
Here  the  two  characters  at  the  right  are  placed  one  above  the  other  and 
appear  to  be  Imix  symbols,  and  the  head  that  of  a  monkey.  There  are 
also  some  small  additions  not  found  in  the  other,  but  allowance  must  be 
made  for  the  fact  that  the  characters  on  this  statue  are  not  so  carefully 
drawn  as  those  on  the  Tablet. 

The  next  character  below  (A  B  4),  if  we  follow  the  rendering  of  the 
first,  will  contain  the  sound  p'  ch-c,  and  A  B  5  that  of  p'  x.  The  next  (A 
B  6)  I  think  is  the  symbol  for  Chuen  or  contains  the  sound  cliu  A  B  7,  1 
am  inclined  to  believe,  is  the  symbol  for  Ukin  or  lakin,  "east"  or  "i-ising  sun." 

A  10  refers  to  a  vessel  of  some  kind,  as  I  infer  from  the  vase  symbol 
at  the  bottom.  C  13  probably  represents  a  word  or  words  with  the  sounds 
ca-z'  or  z'-ca.  Although  F  2  has  a  central  mark  somewhat  resembling  that 
in  Ik,  I  strongly  suspect  it  to  be  the  symbol  for  the  month  Muan. 

In  R  1  we  see  the  bread  symbol  precisely  as  on  the  back  of  the  dog, 
Plate  XXI,  and  in  the  middle  division,  Plate  III*,  of  the  Tro.  Manuscript. 

E  6,  U  4,  V  14,  and  X  12  probably  denote  tortillas  of  maize  {ppecuah). 

I  shall  not  attempt  an  explanation  of  the  central  scene,  but  will  call 
attention  to  a  few  points  in  reference  to  it. 

Crosses  of  some  form  with  birds  on  them  are  found  in  three  or  four  of 
the  aboriginal  manuscripts,  as  Plate  III*  of  the  Manuscript  Troano,  Plate 
30  of  the  Dresden  Codex,  and  in  one  or  two  of  the  Mexican  Codices.  It  is 
true  none  of  them  are  so  regular  or  so  true  as  this,  but  they  are  evidently 
intended  as  representations  of  the  cross  and  to  symbolize  the  same  general 
idea.  Certain  characteristics  belong  to  all  of  tliem,  as  follows:  First,  they 
arise  out  of  something-  that  has  life,  as  an  animal  or  person ;  second,  a  vege- 
table growth  therefrom,  as  a  tree;  third,  the  knobs  at  the  ends  of  the  arms, 


208         A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

possibly  indicating'  stars  as  emblematic  of  the  heavens;  and,  fourth,  the 
bird  at  the  tojj.  In  this  (the  Palanque  Tablet)  we  see  at  the  base  the  head 
of  some  fabulous  reptile,  notwithstanding  the  opinion  quoted  in  Dr.  Rau's 
pajDer  to  the  contrary.  The  appendages  at  the  right  and  left  just  above  the 
head  are  probably  intended  for  fore  limbs.  By  looking  carefully  at  the 
upright  w^e  observe  little  knots  on  the  sides  opposite  each  other,  indicating 
the  nodes  as  marked  on  the  figures  of  trees  in  the  Manuscript. 

Referring  to  the  middle  plate  between  pages  156  and  157,  Stephens's 
Central  America,  Vol.  I,  we  observe  on  the  back  of  the  statue  an  abridged 
type  of  the  Palenque  cross.  Here  we  see  the  same  broad  nose,  the  rows 
of  teeth,  and  the  spiral  lines  representing  eyes,  but  we  w^ould  never  imagine 
it  represented  a  head  but  for  what  we  see  on  the  Palanque  Tablet. 

The  arms  issue  from  the  upper  portion  of  the  head;  the  knobs  are  rep- 
resented by  balls  along  the  arms  without  stems;  and  the  bird  is  changed 
into  a  human  figure  with  wings  and  a  little  bird  head. 


APPENDICES, 


APPENDIX  NO.  1. 

Extracts  from  the  ^'Belacion  de  Cosas  de  Yucatan"  of  Diego  de  Landa,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  festivals  of  the  svpplementary  or  closing  days  of  the  year. 
§§XXXV-XXXVII  {pp.  210-226). 

En  qualquiera  fiesta  o  solemnidad  que  esta  gente  hazian  a  sus  dioses, 
comeiKjavan  siempre  del  echar  de  si  al  demonio  para  mejor  la  hazer.  Y  el 
echarle  unas  vezes  eran  con  oraciones  y  bendiciones  que  para  ello  tenian, 
otras  con  servicios  y  oflPrendas  y  sacrificios  que  le  liazian  per  esta  razon. 
Para  celebrar  la  solemnidad  de  su  alio  nuevo  esta  gente  con  mas  regocijo  y 
mas  dignamente,  segun  su  desventurada  opinion,  tomavan  los  cinco  dias 
aciagos  que  ellos  tenian  por  tales  antes  del  primero  dia  de  su  ano  nuevo  y 
en  ellos  liazian  muy  grandes  servicios  a  los  Bacabes  de  arriba  y  al  demonio 
que  Uamavan  por  otros  quatro  nombres  como  a  ellos,  es  a  saber  Kan-u- 
Uayeyah,  Chac-it-  Uaycyab,  Zac-u-  Uayeyah,  Eh-u-  Uayeyab.  Y  estos  servicios  y 
fiestas  acabadas  y  alan^ado  de  si,  co'mo  veremos,  el  demonio,  comen9avan 
su  ano  nuevo. 

§  XXXV. — Fiestas  de  los  dias  aciagos.     Sacrificios  del  principio  del  ano  nuevo 

en  la.letra  de  Kan. 

Uso  era  en  todos  los  pueblos  de  Yucatan  tener  hecho  dos  montones  de 
piedra  uno  en  frente  de  otro,  A  la  entrada  del  pueblo,  por  todas  las  quatro 
partes  del  pueblo,  es  a  saber  a  oriente,  poniente,  septentrion  y  medio  dia, 
para  la  celebracion  de  las  dos  fiestas  de  los  dias  aciagos  los  quales  hazian 
desta  nianera  cada  aiio 

El  aflo  que  la  letra  dominical  era  de  Kan  era  el  aguero  Hobnil,  y  segun 

14  M   T  209 


210         A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO, 

ellos  dezian,  re^Miavan  ambos  a  la  parte  del  medio  dia.  Este  afio  pues 
hazian  una  imagen  o  figura  liueca  de  barro  del  demonio  que  llamavan 
Kan-u-Uaycyah,  y  llevavanla  a  los  montones  de  piedra  seca  que  tenian 
hechos  a  la  parte  de  medio  dia.  Elegian  un  principe  del  pueblo,  en  cuya 
casa  se  celebrava  estos  dias  esta  fieste,  y  para  celebrarla  hazian  una  estatua 
de  un  demonio  que  llamavan  Bolon-Zacab,  al  qual  ponian  en  casa  del  princi- 
pal, adere^ado  en  un  lugar  publico  y  que  todos  pudiessen  Uegar. 

Esto  liecho  se  juntavan  los  seilores  y  el  sacerdote  y  el  pueblo  de  los 
hombi'es,  y  teniendo  limpio  y  con  arcos  y  frescuras  adere^ado  el  camino 
liasta  el  lugar  de  los  montones  de  piedra  donde  estava  la  estatua,  ivan  todos 
juntos  por  ella  con  mucha  de  su  devocion :  llegados  la  sahumava  el  sacerdote 
con  quai'enta  y  nueve  granos  de  inaiz  molidos  con  su  encienso  y  ellos  lo 
repartian  en  el  brasero  del  demqnio  5^  le  suamavan.  Llamavan  al  maiz 
molido  solo  sacah,  y  a  lo  de  los  seiiores  cJiahalte.  Sahumavan  la  imagen, 
degollavan  una  gallina  y  se  la  presentavan  o  ofFrecian. 

Esto  liecho  metian  la  imagen  en  un  palo  llamado  Xante  y  puneiidole 
acuestas  un  angel  en  senal  de  agua  y  que  este  afio  avia  de  ser  bueno,  y 
estos  angeles  pintavin  y  hazian  espantables;  y  assi  In  llevavan  con  mucho 
regocijo  y  vailes  a  la  casa  del  principal  donde  estava  la  otra  estatua  de 
Bolomacab.  Sacavan  de  casa  deste  principal  a  los  seuores  y  al  sacerdote  al 
camino  una  bevida  liecha  de  CCCC  y  XV  granos  de  maiz  tostados  que 
llaman  Plciila  Kflkla  y  bevian  todos  della;  llegados  a  la  casa  del  principal, 
ponian  esta  imagen  en  frente  de  la  estatua  del  demonio  que  alii  tenian,  y 
assi  le  hazian  muchas  offrendas  de  comidas  bevidas  de  carne  y  pescado,  y 
estas  offrendas  repartian  a  los  estrangeros  que  alii  se  hallavan  y  davan  al 
sacerdote  una  pierna  de  venado. 

Otros  derramavan  sangre,  cortandose  las  orejas,  y  untaTido  con  ella 
una  piedra  que  alii  tenian  de  un  demonio  Kanal-Acantun.  Hazian  un 
corazon  de  pan,  y  otro  pan  con  pepitas  de  calaba9as  y  offrecianlos  a  la 
imagen  del  demonio  Kan-u-Uayeyah.  Tenianse  assi  esta  estatua  y  imagen 
estos  dias  aciagos,  y  sahumavanla  con  su  encienso  y  con  los  maizes  molidos 
con  encienso.  Tenian  creido  si  no  hazian  estas  cerimonias  avian  de  tener 
ciertas  enf'ermedades  que  ellos  tienen  en  este  afio.  Passados  estos  dias 
aciagos  llevavan  la  estatua  del  demonio  Bolonzacah  al  templo  y  la  imagen  a 


THOMAS]  FESTIVALS  OF  THE  SUPPLEMENTAL  DAYS.  211 

la  parte  del  oriente  para  ir  alii  otro  afio  por  ella,  y  echavan  la  ay,  y  ivanse 
a  sus  casas  a  entender  en  lo  que  les  dava  a  cada  uno  que  hazer  para  la  cele- 
bracion  del  afio  nuevo. 

Dexando  con  las  cerimonias  hechas,  ecliado  el  demonic,  segun  su  en- 
gafio,  este  afio  tenian  por  bueno,  porque  reynava  con  la  letra  Kan  el  Bacah- 
Hobnil,  del  qua!  dezian  no  avia  peccado  como  sus  hermanos  )'  por  esso  no 
les  venian  miserias  en  el.  Pero  porque  muclias  verzes  las  avia,  proveyo  el 
demonic  de  que  le  liiziessen  servicios  paraque  assi  quando  las  uviesse, 
hecliassen  la  culpa  a  los  servicios  o  servidores  y  quedassen  siempre  engafia- 
dos  y  ciegos. 

Mandavales  pues  liiziessen  un  idolc  que  llaraavan  Yzamna-Kauil  y 
que  la  pusiessen  en  su  temple,  y  que  le  quemassen  en  el  patio  del  templo 
tres  pelotas  de  una  leche  o  i-esina  que  Uaman  k'lh  y  que  le  sacrificassen  un 
perro  o  un  hombre,  lo  qual  ellos  liazian,  guardando  la  orden  que  en  el  ca- 
pitulo  ciento  dixe,  tenian  con  Ids  que  sacrificavan,  salvo  que  el  modo  de 
sacrificar  en  esta  fiesta  era  diferente,  porque  hazian  en  el  patio  del  templo 
un  gran  monton  de  piedras  y  ponian  el  hombre  o  perro  que  avian  de  sacri- 
ficar, en  alguna  cosa  mas  alta  que  el,  y  echando  atado  al  patiente  de  lo  alto 
a  las  piedras  le  arrebatavan  aquellos  officiales  y  con  gran  presteza  le  sacavan 
el  corazon  y  lo  llevavan  al  nuevo  idolo  y  se  le  ofrecian  entre  dos  platos. 
Ofrecian  otros  dones  de  comidas  y  en  esta  fiesta  vailavan  las  viejas  del  jjueblo 
que  para  esto  tenian  elegldas,  vestldas  de  ciertas  vestiduras.  Dezian  que 
descendia  un  angel  y  recibia  este  sacrificio. 

§  XXXVI. — Sacrificios  del  am  nuevo  de  la  letra  Miduc.     Bailes  de  los  Zancos 
Otro  de  las  viejas  con  jperros  de  barro. 

El  afio  en  que  la  letra  dominical  era  Muluc  era  el  aguero  Canzienal. 
Y  a  su  tiempo  elegian  los  seQores  y  el  sacerdote  un  principal  para  hazer  la 
fiesta,  el  qual  elegido  hazian  la  imagen  del  demonio  como  la  del  ano  passado, 
a  la  qual  llamavan  Chac-u-Uayeijah  y  llevavanla  a  los  montones  de  piedra 
de  hazia  la  parte  del  oriente  donde  avian  echado  la  passada.  Hazian  una 
estatua  al  demonio  llamado  Kinch-Ahau.  y  ponianla  en  casa  del  principal  en 
lugar  conveniente  y  desde  alii,  teniendo  muy  limpio  y  adere^ado  el  camino. 


212  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANITSCRIPT  TIIOANO. 

ivan  todos  juntos  con  su  acostiimbrada  devocion  por  la  iniagen  del  denionio 
Chac-u-  Uayeyab. 

Llegados  la  sahuniava  el  sacerdote  con  LIII  granos  de  maiz  molidos  y 
con  su  encienso,  a  lo  qual  llaman  zacah.  Dava  el  sacerdote  a  los  senores 
que  pusiessen  en  el  brasero  mas  encienso  de  lo  que  llamamos  chahalte,  j 
despues  degollavanle  la  gallina,  como  al  passado,  y  tomando  la  imagen  en 
un  palo  llamado  CJiade,  la  llevavan  accompanadola  todos  con  devocion  y 
vailando  unos  vailes  de  guerra  que  llaman  Holcan-OJcot,  Batel-Okot.  Sacavan 
al  camino  a  los  senores  y  principales  su  bevida  de  CCC  y  LXXX  maizes 
tostados  como  la  de  atras. 

Llegados  a  casa  del  principal  ponian  esta  imagen  en  frente  de  la  estatua 
de  Kinch-Ahau  y  hazianle  todas  sus  ofrendas,  las  quales  repartian  como  las 
demas.  Ofrecian  a  la  imagen  pan  hecho  como  yenias  de  uevos,  y  otros 
como  cora^ones  de  venados,  y  otro  lieclio  con  su  pimienta  desleida>  Avia 
muchos  que  derramavan  sangre,  cortandose  las  orejas,  y  untando  con  la 
sangre  la  piedra  que  alii  tenian  del  demonio  que  Uamavan  Chacan-cantun. 
Aqui  tomavan  mocliachos  y  les  sacavan  sangre  por  fuercja  de  las  orejas, 
dandoles  en  ellas  cuchilladas.  Tenian  esta  estatua  y  imagen  hasta  passados 
los  dias  aciagos,  y  entre  tanto  quemavanle  sus  enciensos.  Passados  los 
dias,  llevavan  la  imagen  a  echar  a  la  parte  del  norte  por  ay  donde  otro  ano 
la  avian  de  salir  a  recibir,  y  la  otra  al  templo,  y  despues  ivanse  a  sus  casas 
a  entender  en  el  aparejo  de  su  ano  nuevo.  Avion  de  temer,  si  no  hazian, 
las  cosas  dichas,  mucho  mal  de  ojositos. 

Este  ano  en  que  la  letra  Muluc  era  dominical  y  el  Bacah  Canziemal 
reynava,  tenian  por  buen  ano,  ca  dezian  que  era  este  el  mejor  y  mayor 
destos  dioses  Bacahes;  y  ansi  le  ponian  en  sus  oraciones  el  primero.  Pero 
con  todo  eso,  les  hazia  el  demonio  hiziessen  un  idolo  llamado  Yax-coc-Alimut, 
y  que  lo  pusiessen  en  el  templo  y  quitassen  las  imagenes  antiguas,  y  hizies- 
sen en  el  patio  de  delante  del  templo  un  bulto  de  piedra  en  el  qual  quemassen 
de  su  encienso,  y  una  pelota  de  la  resina  o  leche  kik,  liaziendo  alii  oracion 
al  idolo,  y  pidiendole  remedio  para  las  miserias  que  aquel  ano  tenian;  las 
quales  eran  poca  agua,  y  echar  los  maizes  muchos  hijos  y  cosas  desta  ma- 
nera;  para  cuyo  remedio,  les  mandava  el  demonio  ofrecerle  hardillas  y  un 


THOMAS.!  FESTIVALS  OF  TDE  SUPPLEMENTAL  DAYS.  213 

pai-amento  sin  labores;  el  qual  texessen  las  viejas  que  tienen  por  officio  el 
bailar  en  el  temple  para  aplacar  a  Yax-Coc-Ahmut. 

Tenian  otras  muclias  miserias  y  malos  senales,  aunque  era  biieno  el 
auo,  sine  hazian  los  servicios  que  el  demonio  les  mandava;  lo  qual  era 
hazer  una  fiesta  y  en  ella  vailar  un  vaile  en  muy  altos  zancos  y  ofrecerle 
cabe9as  de  pavos  y  pan  y  bevidas  de  maiz;  avian  de  ofrescerle  perros  heclios 
de  barro  con  pan  en  las  espaldas  y  avian  de  vailar  con  ellos  en  las  nianos  las 
viejas  y  saci'ificarle  un  2>errito  que  tuviesse  las  espanaldas  ne^ras  y  fuesse 
virgen,  y  los  devotos  dellos  avian  de  derramar  su  sangre  y  untar  la  piedra 
de  Chaca-cantim  demonio  con  ella.  Este  servicio  y  sacrificio  tenian  por 
agradable  a  su  dios  Yax-Coc-Ahmut. 

§  XXXVII. — Sacrificios  del  am  mievo  de  la  letra  Yx.    Pronosticos  malos  y  modo 
de  remedial-  sus  cfecfos. 

El  ano  en  que  la  letra  dominical  era  Yx  y  el  aguero  Zacciui,  heclia  la 
eleccion  del  principal  que  celebrasse  la  fiesta,  hazian  la  imagen  del  demoniol 
llamado  Zac-u-Uaijc//ab  y  llevavanla  a  los  montones  de  piedra  de  la  parte 
del  norte,  donde  el  afio  passado  la  avian  echado  Hazian  una  estatua  a, 
demonio  Ysamna  y  ponianla  en  casa  del  principal,  y  todos  juntos,  y  el  camino 
adera^ado,  ivan  devotamente  por  la  imagen  de  Zac-u-Vayeyah.  Llegados  la 
sahumavan  como  lo  solian  hazer,  y  degollovan  la  gallina  y  puesta  la  imagen 
en  un  palo  llamado  Zacliia,  la  trj-an  con  su  devocion  y  bailes  los  quales 
llaman  Alcahtan-Kamaliau.  Traian  les  la  bevida  acostumbrada  al  camino  y 
llegados  a  casa  ponian  esta  imagen  delante  la  estatua  de  Yzamna  y  alii  le 
oflfrecian  todas  sus  offrendas,  y  las  repartian,  y  a  la  estatua  de  Zac-u-Uaye- 
yah  ofrescian  una  cabe^a  de  un  pavo,  y  empanados  de  codornices  y  otras  « 
cosas  y  su  bevida. 

Otros  se  sacavan  sangre  y  untavan  con  ella  la  piedra  del  demonio  Zac- 
Acantun  y  tenianse  assi  los  idolos  los  dias  que  avia  hasta  el  ano  nuevo,  y 
saumavanlos  con  sus  saumerios  hasta  que  llegado  el  dia  postrero  llevavan  a 
Yzamna  al  templo  y  a  Zac-u-Uayeyah  a  la  parte  del  poniente  a  ecliarle  por 
a  y  para  recibirla  otro  ano. 

Las  miserias  que  tenian  este  auo  si  eran  negligentes  en  estos  sus  servi- 
cios eran  desmayos  y  amortecimientos  y  mal  de  ojas.     Tenianle  por  ruyn 


21-1  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

ano  de  pan,  y  bueno  cle  algodon.  Este  ano  en  que  la  letra  dominical  era 
Yx,  y  el  Bacah  Zacciui  reynava,  teniau  por  ruyn  ano,  porque  dezian  avian 
de  tener  en  el  iniserias  muchas  ca  dezian  avian  de  tener  gran  falta  de  agua, 
y  rauchos  soles,  los  quales  avian  de  secar  los  maizales,  de  que  se  les  seguiria 
gran  hambre,  y  de  la  hambra  hurtos,  de  hurtos  esclavos,  y  vender  a  los  que 
los  liiziessen.  Desto  se  les  avian  de  seguir  discordias  y  guerras  entre  si 
propios  0  con  otros  pueblos.  Dezian  tambien  avia  de  aver  mudanqa  en  el 
mando  de  los  senores  o  de  los  sacerdotes,  por  razon  de  las  guerras  y  dis- 
cordias. 

Tenian  tambien  un  pronostico  de  que  algunos  de  los  que  quisiessen  ser 
senores  no  prevalescerian.  Dezian  teimian  tambien  langosta,  y  que  se 
despoblarian  muchos  de  sus  pueblos  de  hambre.  Lo  que  el  demonio  les 
mandava  liazer  para  remedio  destas  miserias  las  quales  todas  o  algunas  dellas 
entendian  les  vernian  era  liazer  un  idolo  que  llamavan  Cinch-Ahau  Y^amna, 
J  ponerle  en  el  templo,  donde  le  hazian  muchos  saumerios  y  muchas  ofrendas 
y  oraciones  y  derramamientos  de  su  sangre,  con  la  qual  untavan  la  piedra 
de  Zac-Acantun  demonio.  Hazian  muchos  vailes  y  vailavan  las  viejas  como 
solian,  y  en  esta  fiesta  hazian  de  nuevo  un  oratorio  pequefio  al  demonio,  o 
le  renovavan,  y  en  el  se  juntavan  a  hazer  sacrificios  y  ofirendas  al  demonio, 
y  a  hazer  una  solemne  borachera  todos;  ca  era  fiesta  general  y  obligatoria. 
Avia  algunos  santones  que  de  su  voluntad,  y  por  su  devocion  hazian  otro 
idolo  como  el  de  arriba  y  le  ponian  en  otros  templos,  donde  se  hazian  ofrendas 
y  borachera.  Estas  boracheras  y  sacrificios  tenian  por  muy  gratos  a  sus 
idolos,  y  por  remedies  para  librarse  de  las  miserias  del  pronostico. 

§  XXXVIII. — Sacrificios  del  am  nuevo  en  la  letra  Cauac     Pronostkos  malos  y 
su  remedio  en  el  baile  del  fiiego. 

El  ano  que  la  letra  dominical  era  Cauac  y  el  aguero  Hosanek,  hecha  la 
elecion  del  principal,  para  celebrar  la  fiesta  hazian  la  imagen  del  demonio 
llamado  Ekuvayeyab,  y  llevavanla  a  los  montones  de  j^iedra  de  la  parte  del 
poniente,  donde  el  ano  passado  la  avian  echado.  Hazian  tambien  una  estatua 
a  un  demonio  llamado  Uacmitun-Ahau,  y  ponianla  en  casa  del  principal 
en  lugar  conveniente,  y  desde  alii  ivan  todos  juntos  al  lugar  donde  la  imagen 
de  Ekuvayeyab  estava,  y  tenian  el  camino  para  ello  muy  adere^ado;  llegados 


THOMAS.)  FESTIVALS  OF  THE  SUPPLEMENTAL  DAYS.  215  " 

a  ella  saumavanla  el  sacerdote  y  los  senores,  como  solian  y  degollavanle  la 
gallina.  Esto  hecho,  tomavan  la  imagea  en  un  palo  que  llamavan  Yaxek,  y 
ponianle  acuestas  a  la  imagen  una  calabera  y  un  hombre  muerto  y  en  cima 
un  paxavo  cenicero  llamado  kuch,  en  senal  de  mortandad  grande,  ca  por  mu}^ 
mal  afio  tenian  este. 

Llevavanla  despues  desta  manera,  con  su  sentimiento  y  devocion,  y 
bailando  algunos  vailes,  entre  los  quales  vailavan  uno  como  cazcarientas  y 
assi  le  llamavan  ellos  Xibalba-Okot,  que  quiere  dezir  baile  del  demonio 
Llegavan  al  camino  los  escancianos  con  la  bevida  de  los  senores,  la  qual 
bevida  llevavan  al  lugar  de  la  estatua  Uacmitun-Ahau,  y  poniale  alii  en 
frente  la  imagen  que  traian.  Luego  comeuQavan  sus  ofrendas,  saumerios 
y  oraciones,  y  muchos  derramavan  la  sangre  de  muclias  partes  de  su  cuerpo, 
y  con  ella  untavan  la  piedra  del  demonio  llamado  Ekel-Acantun,  y  assi 
passavan  estos  dias  aciagos,  los  quales  passados,  llevavan  a  Uacmitun-Ahau 
al  templo,  y  a  JEkuvayepab  a  la  parte  de  medio  dia,  para  recibirla  otro  afio. 

'Este  afio  en  que  la  letra  era  Cauac  y  reynava  el  Bacab-Hozanek  tenian, 
allende  de  la  pronosticada  mortandad,  por  ruyn,  por  que  dezian  les  avian 
los  muchos  soles  de  matar  los  maizales,  y  comer  las  muclias  hormigas  lo  que 
sembrassen  y  los  j^axaros,  y  porque  esto  no  seria  en  todas  partes  avria  en 
algunos  comida,  la  qual  avrian  con  gran  trabajo.  Haziales  el  demonio  jiara 
remedio  destas  meserias  hazer  quatro  demonios  llamados  Chicchuc-CJiob,  Ek- 
Balam-Chac,  Achan-Uolcqb,  Ahbuluc-Balam,  y  ponerlos  en  el  templo  donde 
los  suamavan  con  sus  saumerios,  y  les  ofrecian  dos  pellas  de  una  leche  o 
resina  de  un  arbol  que  llaman  kik,  para  quemar  y  ciertas  iguanas  y  pan  y 
una  mitra  y  un  manojo  de  flores;  y  una  piedra  preciosa  de  las  suyas.  Demas 
desto,  para  le  celebracion  desta  fiesta,  hazian  en  el  patio  una  grande  boveda 
de  madera,  y  henchianla  de  leua  por  lo  alto  y  por  los  lados,  dexandole  en  ellos 
puertas  para  poder  entrar  y  salir.  Tomavan  despues  los  mas  hombres  de 
hecho  sendos  manojos  de  unas  varillas  muy  secas  y  largas  atadas,  y  puesto 
en  lo  alto  de  la  lefia  un  cantor,  cantava  y  hazia  son  con  un  atambor  de  los 
suyos,  vailavan  los  de  abaxo  todos  con  mucho  concierto  y  devocion,  entrando 
y  saliendo  por  las  puertas  de  aquella  boveda  de  madera,  y  assi  vailavan 
hasta  la  tarde,  que  dexando  alii  cada  uno  su  manojo,  se  ivan  a  sus  casas  a 
descansar  y  comer. 


21(3  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

Eu  anocheciendo  volvian  y  con  ellos  mucha  gente,  porque  onlro  ellos 
esta  cerimonia  era  muy  estimada  y  tomando  cada  uno  su  hacho  lo  encendiau 
y  con  ellos  cada  uno  por  su  parte  pegavan  f  uego  a  la  lefia  la  qual  ardia  muclio 
y  se  quemava  presto.  Despues  de  hecho  toda  braza,  la  allanavan  y  tendian 
muy  tendida  y  juntos  los  que  avian  bailado,  avia  algunos,  que  se  ponian  a 
passar -descalQos  y  desnudos  como  ellos  andavan  por  encima  de  aquella 
braza  de  una  parte  a  otra  y  passavan  algunos  sin  lesion,  otros  abra9ados,  y 
otros  medio  quemados,  y  en  esto  creian  estava  el  reraedio  de  sus  miserias 
y  malos  agueros,  y  pensavan  era  este  su  servicio  muy  agradable  a  sus  dioses. 
Esto  hecho  se  i%'an  a  bever  y  hazerse  cestos,  ca  assi  lo  pedia  la  costumbre 
de  la  fiesta,  y  el  calor  del  luego. 


APPENDIX    NO.     2. 

[Quotation  from  au  article  by  Senor  Slelgar.] 

"In  the  third  volume  and  the  first  MSS.  in  this  volume,  now^  in  the 
Borgian  Museum  in  the  College  of  Propaganda  at  Rome,  page  43,  will 
clearly  be  seen  the  four  stations  of  the  year.  On  the  right'  hand  of  upper 
side  we  see  a  genius  or  being,  from  whose  mouth  a  flower  proceeds,  and 
joined  to  the  left  foot  there  is  the  sign  of  the  Hare,  whose  appearance  rep- 
resents the  season  of  rutting,  the  above-said,  being  a  genius,  fecundates  the 
frog — a  symbol  of  the  earth  among  the  Toltecs  and  Aztecs.  It  is  coiled  up 
within  a  serpent  or  dragon,  undoubtedly  Serapis,  and  from  its  rings  come 
forth  innumerable  Phalli.  From  this  proceeds  the  Cosmogonic  idea  of  the 
union  of  Uranus  and  Gea,  which  is  the  Spring  Equinox.  Below  this  (in 
the  MSS.)  is  another  sketch  representing  the  summer  solstice.  The  painted 
figure  is  that  of  a  negro,  and  the  hare  at  its  left  foot  has  its  mouth  open, 
panting  with  the  heat;  behind  it  are  fruits  and  flowers,  and  also  are  seen 
the  folds  of  the  aforesaid  serpent.  The  sketch  which  follows  this  one  shows 
on  the  left  the  Autumnal  Equinox.  The  figure  is  extended  over  a  cross,  the 
hare  which  comes  forth  from  its  ear  is  afflicted  with  pustules  or  pox.  Under 
this  figure  is  a  skull  likewise  in  the  folds  of  the  serpent  before  mentioned. 


THOMAS]  FESTIVALS  HELD  IN  THE  DIFFERENT  MONTHS.  217 

In  the  last  picture,  which  is  on  the  upper  left  hand,  is  the  Winter  Solstice. 
From  the  ear  of  the  figure  comes  forth  a  snake  or  the  evil  genius;  from  its 
mouth  proceeds  the  sign  for  earthquake,  likewise  inclosed  in  the  folds  of  a 
great  serpent;  and  in  all  the  pictures  there  is  the  eagle,  the  next  constella- 
tion to  Serpentarius." 


APPENDIX    NO.     3. 

Translation  of  Landds  description  of  the  festivals  held  in  the  different  months 

of  the  year} 

Note. — The  order  of  the  translation  is  in  accordance  with  the  months 
of  the  Maya  year,  commencing  with  Pop  instead  of  with  the  l(Jth  day 
of  Chen.  The  different  months  are  here  numbered  by  the  letters  of  the 
alj)habet. 

COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    MAYA    YEAR FIRST    DAY    OF    THE    MONTH    POP. 

A. — The  first  day  oi  Fop  commenced  the  first  month  of  these  Indians; 
it  was  the  first  day  of  their  new  year  and  of  a  very  solemn  feast  with  tlieni; 
for  it  was  general,  all  took  part  in  it  and  all  the  people  assembled  to  feast 
in  honor  of  their  gods.  In  order  to  celebrate  it  with  greater  ostentation, 
they  renewed  on  this  day  the  articles  which  they  made  use  of,  such  as 
dishes,  cups,  pedestals,  baskets,  old  cloths,  and  stuffs  with  which  they  cov- 
ered their  idols.  They  swept  their  houses  and  threw  all  the  dirt  and  old 
utensils  into  the  highway  without  the  place,  and  nobody,  had  they  the 
greatest  need  of  it,  dared  to  touch  it.  In  order  to  prepare  themselves  for 
this  feast,  the  princes  and  priests,  also  the  nobility,  commenced  to  fast  and 
previously  to  abstain  from  their  wives ;  this  included  also  those  who  wished 
to  show  their  devotion,  and  they  gave  to  it  all  the  time  they  thought  proper; 
there  were  some  who  fasted  three  months  in  advance,  others  two,  and  others, 
according  to  their  fancy,  as  long  as  it  pleased  them,  but  never  less  than 
thirteen  days. 

To  these  thirteen  days  of  abstinence  from  their  wives,  they  added  that 

'Kcl.aciou,  pp.  240-310. 


218  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

of  taking  neither  salt  nor  spice  with  their  meat,  which  they  regarded  as  a 
great  privation.  At  this  time  they  elected  the  officers  (Chacs)  who  assisted 
the  i^riests;  he  prepared  for  them  a  large  quantity  of  little  balls  of  incense 
on  small  boards,  which  the  priests  kept  for  this  purpose  in  order  that  those 
who  had  fasted  should  burn  them  before  their  idols.  Those  who  had  once 
commenced  this  fast  took  great  care  not  to  break  it,  believing  that,  if  they 
did,  some  misfortune  would  fall  on  them  or  their  houses  on  account  of  that 
violation. 

The  first  day  of  the  new  year  having  arrived,  all  the  men  assembled 
in  the  court  of  the  temple,  but  men  alone;  for,  on  any  occasion,  if  the 
feast  or  sacrifice  was  celebrated  in  the  temple,  the  women  were  not  allowed 
to  assist  in  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  old  women  who  came  to  dance; 
but  at  the  other  banquets,  which  were  held  in  other  places,  the  women  were 
allowed  to  be  present.  On  this  occasion  the  men  came  ornamented  and 
painted  with  their  colors,  after  having  washed  from  themselves  the  grease 
with  which  they  were  covered  during  their  fast.  All  being  assembled  with 
the  offerings  of  meat  and  drinks  which  they  had  brought,  also  a  great 
quantity  of  wine,  newly  fermented,  the  priest  purified  the  temple  and  seated 
himself  in  the  center  of  the  court,  clothed  in  pontifical  garments  and  hav- 
ing beside  him  a  brazier  and  the  balls  of  incense.  The  Cliacs  took  their 
places  at  the  four  corners,  extending  from  one  to  the  other  a  new  cord,  be- 
neath the  center  of  which  all  those  must  enter  who  had  fasted,  in  order  to 
dispel  the  evil  spirit  spoken  of  in  Chapter  XCVI. 

The  evil  spirit  once  driven  out,  all  devoted  themselves  to  prayer  while 
the  chaces  (sic)  kindled  the  new  fire;  they  burnt  the  incense  before  the 
idols,  the  priest  commencing  by  casting  his  own  ball  into  the  brazier;  the 
rest  followed,  each  according  to  his  rank,  to  receive  the  balls  from  the  hand 
of  the  priest,  who  gave  them  with  much  gravity  and  devoutness,  as  if  he 
was  giving  them  valuable  relics;  then  one' after  the  other  cast  them  slowly 
into  the  brazier,  waiting  until  it  was  consumed. 

After  this  ceremony  they  feasted  upon  all  the  offerings  and  presents  of 
food,  drinking  the  wine  after  their  custom,  as  usual,  imtil  they  had  con- 
sumed it  all.  This  was  their  feast  of  the  new  year,  and  the  solemnity  with 
which  they  believed  themselves  to  render  it  perfectly  agreeable  to  their 


TH0MAS.1  FESTIVALS  HELD  IN  THE  DIFFERENT  MONTHS.  219 

idols.  During  the  month  Pop,  there  were  also  some  of  the  most  devout 
men  who  continued  to  celebrate  this  feast  with  their  friends,  such  as  the 
nobles  and  priests,  they  being,  before  others,  always  the  first  in  the  rejoic- 
ings and  festivities. 

B. — During  the  month  Uo,  the  priests,  the  medicine-men,  and  the  sor- 
cerers, which  were  all  the  same,  commenced,  by  fasting  and  other  acts  of 
piety,  to  prepare  for  the  celebration  of  another  feast  which  the  hunters  and 
fishermen  celebrated  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  month  Zip;  each  of  them 
celebrated  it  on  his  own  day  on  his  part,  the  priests  being  the  first.  They 
gave  to  this  feast  the  name  of  Pocam.  Having  assembled,  covered  with 
their  ornaments,  at  the  house  of  the  chief,  they  first  disjielled  the  evil  spirits 
as  before;  they  then  uncovered  their  books  and  laid  them  open  on  a  carpet 
of  leaves  which  they  had  prepared  for  this  purpose.  They  then  invoked 
with  great  devotion  a  god  called  Cincliau-Yzamna,  who  had,  they  said,  been 
the  first  priest;  they  offered  him  divers  presents  and  burnt  before  him  in 
the  new  fire  some  balls  of  incense.  During  this  lime  others  diluted  in  a 
vessel  a  little  verdigris  and  pure  water,  which  they  said  was  brought  from 
a  wood  in  which  no  woman  had  ever  penetrated;  they  moistened  with  it 
the  leaves  of  their  books  in  order  to  cleanse  them;  this  finished,  the  most 
learned  of  the  priests  opened  a  book  in  which  he  examined  the  omens  of  the 
year,  which  he  announced  to  all  those  who  were  present.  He  then  talked 
to  them  for  a  short  time,  advising  them  as  to  what  they  should  do  to  pre- 
vent these  evil  things,  and  announced  the  same  feast  for  the  next  year  to 
the  priest  or  noble  who  was  to  celebrate  it;  if  he  should  die  in  the  mean 
time,  it  devolved  upon  his  son  to  celebrate  it  in  his  place.  When  this  was 
concluded,  all  feasted  together  upon  the  food  and  offerings  of  drinks,  drink- 
ing like  Avine-bibbers.  Thus  was  completed  the  feast,  dui-ing  which  they 
executed  a  dance  called  Okot-ViL 

C. — The  following  day,  the  medicine-men  and  sorcerers  assembled  with 
their  wives  at  the  house  of  one  of  their  number.  The  priests  expelled  the 
evil  spirit;  after  which  they  opened  their  medicine-bags,  in  which  they 
kept  a  number  of  charms,  and,  each  in  particular,  some  little  images  of  the 
goddess  of  medicine,  which  they  called  Ixchcl,  whence  the  name  of  the  fes- 


220  A  STUDY  OF  TDE  MANUSCEIPT  TROANO. 

ii\a\,  Ihcil-Ixchel ;  also  some  little  stones  used  in  their  sorceries,  called  am. 
Then  they  invoked  in  their  prayers,  with  great  devotion,  the  gods  of  medi- 
cine, Ysamna,  Cit-Bolon-Tun,  and  Ahau-Chamahez,  while  the  priests  burned 
in  their  honor  the  incense  which  they  cast  into  the  brazier  of  the  new  fire, . 
and  which  the  Chacs  smeared  with  a  blue  color  resembling  the  color  of  the 
books  of  the  priests.  This  done,  each  one  gathered  up  his  valuables,  and, 
loaded  with  their  bundles,  they  executed  a  dance  called  Ghan-tun-yah.  The 
dance  having  terminated,  the  men  seated  themselves  on  one  side  and  the 
women  on  the  other;  they  then  an-anged  the  day  for  the  feast  of  the  next 
year,  and  all  made  the  usual  banquet  on  the  oflFerings  and  drinks,  intoxicating 
themselves,  trying  each  to  exceed  the  other.  The  priests  alone,  it  is  said, 
ashamed  of  joining  with  them  on  this  occasion,  put  aside  their  share  of  the 
wine,  in  order  to  drink  it  at  their  ease  and  without  any  witnesses. 

The  preceding  day  the  hunters  gathered  together  at  one  of  their  houses, 
where  they  brought  their  wives  with  them ;  the  priests  came  also,  and  after 
having  driven  away  the  evil  spirit,  as  usual,  they  placed  in  the  center  of 
the  house  the  preparatives  necessary  to  the  sacrifice  of  incense  and  the  new 
fire,  with  the  blue  color.  The  hunters  worshiped  with  devotion  the  gods 
of  the  chase,  Acanum,  Zu-hmj-Zij),  Tabai,  and  others,  and  distributed  the 
incense,  which  they  then  threw  into  the  brazier.  While  they  were  burning, 
each  one  took  an  arrow  and  a  deer's  head,  Avhich  the  Chacs  had  painted 
blue;  and  thus  adorned  some  danced,  holding  each  other's  hand,  while 
others  pierced  their  ears  or  tongue,  passing  through  the  holes  which  they 
made  in  them  seven  leaves  of  an  herb  called  Ac.  This  completed,  first  the 
priests,  and  afterward  the  officers  of  the  feast,  presented  the  offerings,  then 
they  began  to  dance,  drinking  wine  until  they  were  intoxicated. 

The  next  day  it  was  the  fishermen's  turn  to  celebrate  the  feast,  which 
they  did  in  the  same  manner  as  the  others,  except  that  in  place  of  the  deer 
heads,  they  painted  their  fishing  implements;  they  did  not  pierce  their  ears, 
but  cut  around  them,  after  which  they  performed  a  dance  called  CJiohom. 
After  this,  they  consecrated  a  large  tree,  which  they  left  standing  upright. 

When  this  feast  was  finished  in  the  cities,  it  was  the  custom. of  the 
nobles  to  celebrate  it  with  a  large  crowd  at  the  sea-shore,  where  they  held 
a  great  fishing  expedition  Avith  rejoicings  of  every  kind ;  for  tliey  carried 


THOMAS]  I'ESTIVALS  HELD  IN  THE  DIFFERENT  MONTHS.  221 

with  them  a  large  quantity  of  lines  and  fish-hooks  with  other  implements 
for  fishing-.  The  gods  whom  they  then  invoked  as  their  patrons  were 
AhkaJc-Ncxoi,  Ahpua,  Alicitz,  and  Amalcum. 

D. — During  the  month  of  Tzoz  the  apiarists  prepared  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  their  feast  of  Tzec;  but  although  the  principal  preparation  was  fast- 
ing, only  the  priests  and  the  officers  who  were  to  assist  him  were  compelled 
to  fast,  all  the  rest  being  voluntary. 

E.— The  month  Tzec.  The  day  of  the  feast  having  arrived,  they 
congregated  at  the  house  of  him  who  celebrated  it,  and  performed  all 
that  they  usually  did  at  the  other  feasts,  except  that  they  shed  no  blood. 
Their  patrons  were  the  Bacabs,  and  especially  Hobnil.  They  then  made 
great  offerings,  particularly  to  the  four  Chacs,  to  whom  they  presented  four 
plates  covered  with  figures  of  honey,  in  order  to  obtain  it  in  abundance  by 
means  of  this  feast.  They  finished,  as  usual,  with  a  perfect  orgy,  the 
apiarists  being  hj  no  means  sparing  of  their  honey  on  this  occasion. 

r. — The  month  Xul.  It  has  been  seen  in  the  tenth  chapter  how,  after 
the  departure  of  Kukulcan  from  Yucatan,  there  were  some  Indians  who, 
believing  that  he  was  carried  to  heaven  with  the  gods,  regarded  him  as  a 
god  and  built  temples  in  his  honor  and  celebrated  feasts,  which  they  con- 
tinued throughout  the  country  until  the  destruction  of  Mayapan.  After 
this  event,  they  celebrated  them  no  longer  except  in  the  province  of  Mani ; 
but  the  other  provinces,  in  recognition  of  what  they  owed  to  Kukulcan, 
pi'esented  to  Mani  by  turns  each  year,  sometimes  four  and  at  other  times 
five  magnificent  banners  of  feathers,  with  which  they  solemnized  the  feasts, 
not  like  the  others,  but  in  the  following  manner : 

On  the  sixteenth  day  of  the  month  of  Xul  all  the  lords  and  priests 
of  Mani  assembled,  and  with  them  a  large  crowd,  who  joined  with  them, 
after  having  prepared  for  it  by  fast  and  penances.  On  the  evening  of  this 
day  they  dej)arted  in  procession,  with  a  large  number  of  performers,  from 
the  house  of  the  prince  and  advanced  slowly  towards  the  temple  of  Kukul- 
can, which  they  had  previously  ornamented.  Having  arrived,  they  repeated 
their  prayers  and  placed  the  banners  high  in  the  temple;  they  exposed  their 
idols  on  a  carpet  of  leaves.     Having  then  built  the  new  fire,  they  burnt 


222  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

incense  in  ni;nn-  places,  making  offerings  of  meat,  cooked  without  pepper 
01'  salt,  and  drinks  made  from  beans  and  kernels  of  calabashes.  The  lords, 
and  also  those  who  had  observed  the  fast,  passed  five  days  and  five  nights 
tliere  without  returning  home — praying,  burning  copal,  and  executing  sacred 
dances.  During  this  time  the  actors  went  to  the  houses  of  the  nobles  and 
others,  exhibiting  their  performances  and  receiving  the  gifts  which  were 
offered  to  them.  At  the  end  of  the  five  days  they  carried  them  all  to  the 
temple,  where  they  divided  them  among  the  priests  and  the  dancers.  After 
this  they  resumed  the  banners  and  idols,  which  they  carried  back  to  the 
mansion  of  the  prince,  from  which  place  each  one  returned  home  with 
whatever  he  recovered.  They  said,  and  devoutly  believed,  that  Kukulcan 
descended  from  heaven  in  person  on  the  last  day  of  the  feast  and  received 
the  sacrifice,  the  presents,  and  offerings  which  they  made  to  him.  They 
called  this  feast  Chk-Kaban. 

Gr. — The  month  Yaxkin.  During  this  month  they  commenced  to  pre- 
pare, as  was  their  custom,  for  a  general  feast,  which  was  celebrated  in  Mol, 
on  a  day  designated  by  the  priest  in  honor  of  all  the  gods;  they  called  it 
Ololi-Zab-Kam  Yax.  After  the  usual  ceremonies  and  incensing  which  they 
desired  to  do,  they  smeared  with  their  blue  paint  all  the  instruments  of 
every  profession,  from  those  used  b}''  the  priests  even  to  the  spindles  of  the 
women  and  the  doors  of  their  houses.  On  this  occasion  they  painted  the 
children  of  both  sexes  with  the  same  color;  but,  instead  of  smearing  their 
hands,  they  gave  them  each  nine  gentle  raps  on  their  knuckles,  that  they 
might  be  skillful  in  the  professions  of  their  fathers  and  mothers.  As  for  the 
little  girls,  an  old  woman  brought  them  there,  and  for  this  reason  they 
called  her  Ixmol,  that  is  to  say,  conductress.  The  conclusion  of  this  cere- 
mony was  a  grand  orgy  and  banquet  with  the  offerings  which  they  had 
presented,  although  it  was  understood  that  the  devoted  old  woman  was  not 
permitted  to  become  intoxicated,  lest  she  should  lose  on  the  road  the  plume 
of  her  office. 

H. — The  month  Mol.  During  this  month  the  apiarists  repeated  the 
feast  which  they  had  celebrated  in  the  month  Tzec,  in  order  that  the  gods 
might  cause  the  flowers  to  otow  for  the  bees. 


THOMAS]  FESTIVALS  HELD  IN  THE  DIFFERENT  MONTHS.  223 

One  of  the  things  that  these  wretched  people  regarded  as  the  most 
difficult  and  arduous  was  the  fabrication  of  their  idols  of  wood,  which  they 
called  making  the  gods.  They  had  for  this  a  particular  time,  which  was  this 
month  of  Mol,  or  any  other  if  the  priest  judged  it  proper  to  change  it. 

Those  who  wished  to  have  it  done  consulted  first  the  pi'iest,  and  after 
his  advice  went  to  seek  the  artists  who  occupied  themselves  with  this  pro- 
fession; but,  to  whatever  they  said,  these  artists  always  excused  themselves, 
because  they  were  persuaded  that  one  or  another  of  their  house  might  die, 
or  that  it  would  suddenly  bring  upon  them  some  disease  of  the  heart.  When 
they  had  accepted,  the  Chacs  whom  they  chose  for  this  purpose,  also  the 
priest  and  the  artist,  commenced  to  fast.  In  the  mean  time  those  who  had 
ordered  the  idols  went  in  person  or  sent  a  trusty  person  into  the  wood  to 
cut  down  the  tree  of  which  they  must  be  sculptured,  and  which  was  always 
cedar.  When  the  wood  was  obtained  they  built  a  cabin  of  stubble  well 
closed,  where  they  put  the  wood,  with  a  large  urn  for  inclosing  the  idols 
during  the  time  that  they  worked  on  them.  They  offered  incense  to  four 
gods,  called  Acantun,  the  images  of  which  they  placed  at  the  four  cardinal 
points;  they  took  also  that  which  they  used  for  scarifying  their  ears  and 
drawing  blood  from  them,  and  also  the  instruments  which  they  needed  for 
sculpturing  their  black  divinities.  Prepared  in  this  manner,  the  priest,  the 
Chacs,  and  the  artist  shut  themselves  up  in  the  hut  and  commenced  the 
sacred  work,  frequently  cutting  themselves,  and  smearing  the  idols  with 
their  blood,  and  burning  incense  before  them.  They  continued  thus  until 
the  work  was  finished,  the  members  of  their  families  carrjnng  food  to  them 
with  whetever  was  necessary  to  them;  but  they  could  not  during  this  time 
approach  their  wives,  and  no  one  was  admitted  into  the  place  where  they 
were  incarcerated. 

I. — Month  Chen.  According  to  what  they  said,  they  worked  in  great 
fear  while  sculpturing  the  gods.  As  soon  as  the  idols  were  completed  and 
perfected,  those  who  owned  them  gave  to  those  who  had  made  them  the 
most  valuable  presents  possible,  of  birds,  of  venison,  and  of  money,  in  order 
to  pay  them  for  their  work.  They  took  the  idols  from  the  cabin  where  they 
had  been  made  and  carried  them  into  another  cabin  made  of  leaves,  erected 


224  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSOEIPT  TROANO. 

for  this  purpose  in  the  court,  where  the  priest  consecrated  them  with  much 
solemnity  and  fervent  prayers,  the  artists  having  previously  washed  them- 
selves.from  the  soot  with  which  they  were  covered  as  a  sign  of  fasting,  they 
said,  foi^all  the  time  that  they  were  at  work.  Having  accordingly  driven 
awav  the  evil  spirit  and  burnt  the  consecrated  incense,  they  placed  the  new 
images  in  a  flat  basket,  wrapped  in  linen,  and  carried  them  back  to  tlieir 
owner,  who  received  them  with  much  devotion. 

The  priest  then  addressed  the  artists  for  some  time  on  the  excellence  of 
their  profession,  that  of  making  the  new  gods,  and  on  the  danger  they  in- 
curred by  worlcing  without  regarding  the  rules  of  abstinence  and  fasting. 
After  this,  they  partook  together  of  an  abundant  repast  and  drank  more 
freely  than  usual. 

K. — The  month  Tax.  In  one  of  the  two  months  Chen  and  Yax,  which- 
ever was  selected  by  the  priest,  they  celebrated  a  feast  called  Ocna,  which 
means  the  renovation  of  the  temple  in  honor  of  the  Chacs,  Avhom  they 
regarded  as  the  gods  of  the  fields.  In  this  feast  they  consulted  the  prog- 
nostics of  the  Bacahs,  which  is  spoken  of  more  at  length  in  chapters  CXIII, 
CXIV,  CXV,  and  CXVI,  and  after  the  manner  already  mentioned.  This 
feast  was  celebrated  every  year.  Besides,  they  renovated  the  idols  of  baked 
earth  and  their  braziers;  for  it  was  the  custom  that  each  idol  should  have  its 
little  brazier,  in  which  was  burned  their  incense,  and,  if  it  was  found  neces- 
sary, they  built  a  new  liouse  or  repaired  the  old  one,  taking  care  to  place  on 
the  wall  an  inscription  commemorating  these  things,  written  in  their  char- 
acters. 

L. — The  month  Zac.  On  one  of  the  days  of  the  month  Zac,  designated 
by  the  priest,  the  hunters  celebrated  another  feast  similar  to  that  which  they 
had  celebrated  in  the  month  Zip.  This  took  place  at  this  time  for  the  pur- 
pose of  appeasing  the  anger  of  the  gods  against  themselves  and  their  de- 
scendants, on  account  of  the  blood  they  had  shed  during  the  chase;  for 
they  regarded  as  abominable  all  shedding  of  blood  except  in  their  sacri- 
fices; also  they  never  went  to  hunt  without  first  invoking  tlieir  idols  and 
burning  incense  before  them;  and  if  they  afterwards  succeeded,  they 
smeared  their  faces  with  the  blood  of  their  game. 


TttOMAsi  FESTIVALS  HELD  IN  THE  DIFFERENT  MONTHS.  225 

On  another  day,  which  came  on  the  seventh  Ahau,  they  celebrated  a 
very  grand  festival,  which  continued  for  three  days,  with  incense-burning, 
offerings,  and  a  very  respectable  orgy;  but  as  it  was  a  movable  feaSt  the 
priest  took  care  to  publish  it  in  advance,  in  order  that  each  one  might  keep 
a  fast  according  to  his  duty. 

M. — The  month  Mac.  On  another  day  in  the  month  of  3Iac,  the  old 
people,  and  especially  the  old  men,  celebrated  a  feast  in  honor  of  the  Chacs, 
the  gods  of  abundance,  and  also  to  Yzamna.  Some  days  before,  they  per- 
formed the  following  ceremony,  called  in  their  language  Ttqyjjkak  Having 
gathered  together  all  the  animals,  sucli  as  reptiles  and  beasts  of  the  fields 
which  they  could  find  in  the  country,  they  assembled  in  the  court  of  the  tem- 
ple, the  Chacs,  and  the  priests  placing  themselves  in  the  corners  in  order  to 
expel  the  evil  spirit,  according  to  the  custom,  each  of  them  having  beside  him 
a  pitcher  filled  with  water,  which  was  brought  to  him.  Standing  upright,  in 
the  center,  was  an  enormous  bundle  of  small  dry  wood,  with  which  they 
kindled  a  fire  after  having  thrown  the  incense  into,  the  brazier;  while  the 
wood  was  burning,  they  tore  out,  with  emulation,  the  hearts  of  the  animals 
and  birds  and  cast  them  into  the  fire.  If  it  had  been  impossible  to  obtain 
large  animals,  such  as  tigers,  lions,  and  alligators,  they  represented  the 
hearts  of  these  by  incense;  but  if  they  had  them,  they  tore  out  their  hearts 
also  and  put  them  in  the  fire.  As  soon  as  all  the  hearts  were  consumed, 
the  C/mcs  extinguished  the  fire  with  the  water  in  the  pitcher. 

The  object  of  this  sacrifice  and  of  the  feast  following  was,  also,  to 
obtain  an  abundance  of  water  for  their  crops  during  the  year.  They  cele- 
brated this  feast,  however,  in  a  diff'erent  manner  from  the  others;  for  in 
this  they  did  not  fast,  with  the  exception  of  the  beadle  of  the  confraternity, 
who  jDerformed  penance.  On  the  day  fixed  upon  for  the  celebration,  all 
the  people  assembled  with  the  priest  and  the  oflicers  in  the  court  of  the 
temple,  where  they  had  erected  a  stone  platform,  with  steps  for  mounting, 
suitably  ornamented  with  leaves?  The  priest  gave  the  incense,  previously 
prepared,  to  the  beadle  who  burned  in  tlie  brazier  enough  of  it  to  dispel 
the  evil  spirit.  This  done,  with  the  accustomed  devotion,  they  smeared  the 
first  step  of  the  platform  with  mire  from  a  well  or  cistern,  and  the  others 

15  M   T 


226  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

with  the  blue  color;  they  incensed  it  several  times  and  invoked  the  CJiacs 
with  prayers  and  ceremonies,  oflfering  them  many  gifts.  At  the  close,  they 
rejoiced,  eating  and  drinking  the  oblations,  full  of  confidence  in  the  result 
of  their  invocations  for  this  year. 

N. — The  month  Muan.  During  the  month  Miian  the  proprietors  of  the 
cacao  plantations  celebrated  a  feast  in  honor  of  the  gods  Ekchuah,  Chac,  and 
Hobnil,  who  were  their  patrons.  In  order  to  solemnize  it,  they  went  to  the 
farm  of  one  of  their  number,  where  they  sacrificed  a  dog,  bearing  a  spot  of 
the  color  of  cacao.  They  burnt  incense  before  their  idols,  offering  them 
iguffnas — those  which  were  of  a  blue  color;  feathers  of  a  particular  bird; 
also  different  kinds  of  game.  They  gave  to  each  one  of  the  officers  a  branch 
with  the  fruit  of  the  cacao.  The  sacrifice  completed,  they  set  themselves 
to  eating  and  drinking  the  offerings ;  but  it  is  said  that  they  permitted  each 
one  to  drink  only  three  cups  of  their  wine,  and  they  could  bring  only  the 
necessary  quantity.  They  then  returned  to  the  house  of  the  one  who  bore 
the  expenses  of  the  feast,  where  they  entertained  themselves  together. 

0. — The  month  Pax.  In  the  month  Pax  they  celebrated  a  feast  called 
Pacum-Chac,  on  which  occasion  the  nobles  and  priests  of  the  inferior  bor- 
oughs assembled  with  those  from  the  more  important  villages.  Thus  united 
they  passed  five  nights  in  prayer  in  the  temple  of  Cit-Chac-Coh,  presenting 
their  sacrifices  with  incense,  as  has  been  seen  at  the  feast  of  Kuhulcan  in  the 
month  of  Xul,  in  November.  In  commencing  these  five  days,  they  returned 
together  to  the  house  of  the  general  of  their  armies,  whose  title  was  Nacon, 
of  which  I  have  spoken  in  Chapter  CI.  They  bore  him  in  great  pomp  to  the 
temple,  burning  incense  before  him  like  an  idol,  where  they  seated  him. 
Tims  they  passed  the  five  days,  eating  and  drinking  the  offerings  which  they 
had  presented  in  the  temple,  and  executing  a  dance  similar  to  a  war  dance, 
to  which  they  gave,  in  their  language,  the  name  of  Holkan-Okot,  which 
means  the  dance  of  the  warriors  When  the  five  days  were  passed  every- 
body came  to  the  feast,  which,  as  it  concerned  the  affairs  of  war  and  hope 
of  obtaining  the  victory,  was  very  solemn.- 

It  was  commenced  with  the  ceremonies  and  sacrifices  of  fire,  of  which 
I  have  spoken  in  the  festival  in  the  month  of  Mac.  Then  they  expel  the 
evil  spirit,  as  usual,  which  is  done  with  much  solemnity.     This  finished, 


THOMAsj  MODE  OF  BUILDING  HOUSES  IN  YUCATAN.  227 

they  recommenced  their  prayers,  sacrifices,  and  incensing.  While  all  these 
things  were  going  on  the  nobles  and  those  who  had  accompanied  them 
replaced  the  Nacon  on  their  shoulders  and  carried  him  in  procession  around 
the  temple.  On  their  return  the  Chacs  sacrificed  a  dog,  tearing  out  its 
heart,  which  they  presented  to  the  idol,  between  two  plates;  each  one 
present  then  broke  in  pieces  a  large  vessel  filled  with  a  drink,  with  which 
the  feast  was  completed.  All  then  ate  and  drank  the  offerings  which  they 
had  brought,  and,  with  much  solemnity,  but  without  the  usual  incense,  car- 
ried the  Nacon  back  to  his  home. 

There  a  grand  banquet  took  place,  at  which  the  lords,  nobles,  and 
priests  became  intoxicated  in  the  effort  to  excel  each  other  in  drinking,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Nacon,  who  remained  sober,  the  crowd  in  the  mean 
time  returning  to  their  homes.  The  next  day,  after  they  had  slept  them- 
selves sober,  the  nobles  and  priests,  who  had  remained  at  the  mansion  of 
the  general  after  the  orgy,  received  from  his  hand  large  presents  of  incense 
which  he  had  prepared  for  this  purpose  and  caused  to  be  consecrated  by  the 
holy  priests. 

At  this  reunion  he  addressed  them  in  a  long  discourse,  and  earnestly 
recommended  to  them  the  feasts  which  they  should  celebrate  in  honor  of  the 
gods,  in  their  towns,  in  order  to  obtain  a  prosperous  and  abundant  year. 
When  the  lecture  was  finished  all  took  leave  of  each  other  with  much  affec- 
tion and  noise,  and  each  one  took  the  road  for  his  village  and  home. 

There  they  occupied  themselves  with  the  celebration  of  their  feasts, 
which  sometimes  lasted,  according  to  circumstances,  until  the  month  of  Pop. 
They  gave  to  these  feasts  the  name  of  Zabacil-Than,  and  they  were  cele- 
brated in  the  following  manner:  They  sought  in  the  commune  those  who, 
being  the  richest,  were  the  most  able  to  bear  the  expense  of  the  feast,  and 

requested  them  to  fix  upon  a  day,  because  they  had  more  of 

during  these  three  months  which  remained  until  the  natural  year.  What 
they  then  did  was  to  assemble  at  the  mansion  of  the  one  who  celebrated 
the  feast,  after  having  performed  the  ceremony  of  dispelling  the  evil  spirit. 
They  burnt  copal  and  presented  offerings  with  rejoicings  and  dances,  after 
which  they  drank  some  wine,  which  last  was  always  the  main  point  of  the 
feast.     Such  were  the  excesses  in  which  they  indulged  themselves  during 


228  A  STUDY  t)F  TeE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

these  three  months,  which  it  was  painful  to  see;  some  departing  covered 
with  wounds  or  bruises,  others  with  their  eyes  inflamed  with  the  quantity 
of  Hquor  which  they  had  imbibed,  and  with  this  passion  for  drink  they 
ruined  themselves  entirely. 

P. — It  has  been  said,  in  the  preceding  chapters,  that  the  Indians  com- 
menced their  years  with  days  without  names,  preparing  in  the  villages  for 
the  celebration  of  the  feast  of  the  new  year.  Besides  the  feast  which  they 
made  to  the  god  U-uayei/ab,  by  right  of  which  alone  they  went  out  from 
home,  they  solemnized  especially  these  five  days,  seldom  quitting  their 
houses,  except  to  present,  besides  the  oft'erings  made  in  public,  different 
trifles  to  their  gods  in  the  other  temples.  They  never  afterwards  employed, 
for  their  particular  use,  the  bagatelles  which  they  offered  to  the  idols,  but 
they  bought  the  incense  which  they  burned  with  it.  They  neither  combed 
nor  washed  themselves  during  these  days;  neither  men  nor  women  cleansed 
themselves.  They  did  not  do  any  servile  or  fatiguing  work,  for  fear  that 
some  misfortune  might  befall  them. 


APPENDIX    NO.     4. 

Manera  de  las  casus  en  Yucatan} 

Que  la  manera  de  hazer  las  casas  era  cubrirlas  de  paja  que  tienen  muy 
buena  y  mucha,  o  con  hojas  de  palma  que  es  propia  para  esto  y  que  tenian 
muy  grandes  corrientes  jjara  que  no  se  lluevan,  y  que  despues  echan  una 
pared  por  medio  al  largo  que  divide  toda  la  casa,  y  que  en  esta  pared  dexan 
algunas  puertas  para  la  mitad  que  llaman  las  espaldas  de  la  casa,  dondc 
tienen  sus  camas,  y  qiie  la  otra  mitad  blanquean  de  muy  gentil  encalado,  y 
que  los  seuores  las  tienen  pintadas  de  muchas  galanterias  y  que  esta  mitad 
es  el  recebimiento  y  aposento  de  los  guespedes,  y  que  esta  pie^a  no  tiene 
puerta,  sino  toda  abierta  conforme  al  largo  de  la  casa,  y  baxa  mucho  la 
corriente  delantera  por  temor  de  los  soles  y  aguas,  y  dizen  que  tambien  para 
ensenorearse  de  los  enemigos  de  la  parte  de  dentro  en  tiempo  de  necessitad. 
Y  que  el  pueblo  menudo  hazia  a  su  costa  las  casas  de  los  senores,  y  que  con 

'  Mode  of  building  houses  among  the  Yucatecs,  Landa,  sec.  xx,  p.  110. 


T.IOMAB.I  MODE  OF  BArXISM  IN  YUCATAZST.  220 

no  tener  mas  puertas,  tenian  por  grave  delicto  de  hazer  mal  a  casas  agenas. 
Tenian  una  portezilla  atras  para  el  servicio  necessario  y  que  tieneii  unas 
camas  de  varillas,  y  en  cima  una  serilla  donde  duermen,  cubiertas  de  sus 
mantas  de  algodon:  en  verano  duermen  comunmente  en  los  encalados  con 
una  de  aquellas  serillas,  especialmente  los  hombres  Allende  de  la  casa  hazian 
todo  el  pueblo  a  los  senores  sus  sementeras,  y  se  las  beneficiavan  y  cogian 
en  cantidad  que  le  bastava  a  el  y  a  su  casa,  y  quando  avia  ca^as  o  pescas,  o 
era  tienipo  de  traer  sal  siempre  davan  parte  al  seuor,  por  que  estas  cosas  siem- 
})re  las  hazian  de  comunidad. 


APPENDIX    NO.     5. 

Modo  de  hautisnio  en  Yucatan} 

Tenian  pues  esta  costumbre  para  venir  a  hazer  los  baptismos,  que 
criavan  las  indias  los  ninos  hasta  edad  de  tres  anos,  y  a  los  varoncillos 
iisavanles  siempre  poner  pegada  a  la  cabe^a  en  los  cabellos  de  la  coronilla 
una  contezuela  blanca,  y  a  las  muchachas  traian  ceilidas  por  las  senes  muy 
abaxo  con  un  cordel  delgado  y  en  el  una  couchuela  asida  que  les  venia  a 
dar  encima  de  la  parte  honesto  y  destas  dos  cosas  era  entre  ellos  j^eccado  y 
cosa  muy  fea  quitarla  de  las  mochachas  antes  del  baptismo,  el  qual  les  davan 
siempre  desde  edad  de  tres  anos  hasta  doze  y  nunca  se  casavan  antes  del 
baptismo. 

Quando  alguno  avia  que  quisiesse  baptizar  su  hijo,  iva  al  sacerdote  y 
davale  parte  de  su  intento,  'el  qual  publicava  por  el  pueblo  el  baptismo,  y  el 
dia  en  que  lo  hazia,  el  qual  ellos  miravan  siempre  no  fuesse  aciago. 

Esto  hecho  el  que  hazia  la  fiesta  que  era  el  que  movia  la  platica,  clegia 
un  principal  del  pueblo  a  su  gusto  para  que  le  ayudasse  a  su  negocio  y  las 
cosas  del.  Despues  tenian  de  costumbre  elegir  a  otros  quatro  hombres 
ancianos  y  honrados  que  ayudessen  al  sacerdote  el  dia  de  la  fiesta  a  las  ceri- 
monias,  y  estos  elegian  juntamente  a  su  gusto  con  el  sacerdote.  y  en  estas 
elecciones  entendian  siempre  los  padres  de  todos  los  ninos  que  avia  que  baji- 

'Mauuer  of  baptism  in  Yucatan. — Landa,  §  xxvi,  p.  144.     Original. 


230  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TROANO. 

tizar,  ca  de  todos  era  tambien  la  fiesta  y  llamavanlos  a  estos  que  escogian 
chaces.  Tres  dias  antes  de  la  fiesta  ayunavan  los  padres  de  los  mochacbos 
y  los  officiales,  abstiniendose  de  las  mugeres. 

El  dia  juntavanse  todos  en  casa  del  que  bazia  la  fiesta  y  Uevavan  los 
ninos  todos  que  avian  de  baptizar,  a  los  quales  ponian  en  el  patio  o  placa 
de  la  casa,  que  linipio  y  sembrado  de  bojas  frescas  le  tenian  por  orden  en 
rengla  los  varones  por  si  y  las  niiias  por  si,  ponian  les  como  padrinos  una 
muger  anciana  a  las  ninas,  y  a  los  niuos  un  bombre  que  los  tuviessen  a 
cargo. 

Esto  becbo  tratava  el  sacerdote  de  la  purificacion  de  la  posada,  becban- 
do  al  demonio  della.  Pai-a  ecbarlo  ponian  quatro  vanquillos  en  las  quatro 
esquinas  del  patio  en  los  quales  se  sentavan  los  quatro  cbaces  con  un  cord  el 
largo  asido  de  uno  a  otro,  de  manera  que  quedavan  los  niuos  acorralados  en 
medio  a  dentro  del  cordel,  despues  pasando  sobre  el  cordel  avian  de  entrar 
todos  los  padres  de  los  nifios  que  avian  ayunado  dentro  del  circuito.  Des- 
pues o  antes  ponian  en  medio  otro  vanquillo  donde  el  sacerdote  se  sentava 
con  un  brasero,  y  un  jdoco  de  maiz  molido  y  de  su  encienso.  Alii  venian 
los  ninos  y  ninas  por  orden  y  ecbavales  el  sacerdote  un  poco  de  maiz  molido 
y  del  encienso  en  la  mano,  y  ellos  en  el  brasero;  y  ansi  bazian  todos,  y  estos 
saumerios  acabados,  tomavan  el  brasero  en  que  los  bazian,  y  el  cordel  con 
que  los  cbaces  los  tenian  cercados  y  ecbavan  en  im  vaso  un  poco  de  vino  y 
davan  lo  todo  a  un  indio  que  lo  llevasse  fuera  del  pueblo,  avisandole  no 
beviesse  ni  mirass  atras  a  la  buelta  y  con  esto  dezian  quedava  el  demonio 
echado. 

El  qual  assi  ido  verrian  el  patio  y  lirapiavanlo  de  las  bojas  del  arbol 
que  tenia  que  se  dize  ciliom  y  ecbavan  .otras  de  otro  que  llaman  copo^  y 
ponian  unas  seras  en  tanto  que  el  sacerdote  se  vestia.  Vestido  salia  con  un 
jaco  de  pluma  Colorado  y  labrado  de  otras  plumas  de  colores,  y  que  le 
cuelgan  de  los  extremos  otras  plumas  largas  j  una  como  coroza  en  la  cabe(;a 
de  las  mesmas  plumas,  y  debaxo  del  jaco  muchos  listones  de  algodon  basta 
el  suelo  como  colas,  y  con  un  isopo  en  la  mano  de  un  palo  corto  muy  labra- 
do, y  por.barbas  o  pelos  del  isopo  ciertas  colas  de  unas  culebras  que  son 
como  caxcaveles,  y  con  no  mas  ni  menos  gravedad  que  ternia  un  papa  para 
coronar  un  emperador,  que  cosa  ei'a  notable  la  serenidad  que  les  causavan 


THOMAB.)  MODE  OF  Baptism  in  yucata^'.  231 

los  aparejos.  Los  chaces  ivan  luego  a  los  ninos  y  ponian  a  todos  sendos 
panos  blancos  en  las  cabe^as  que  sus  madres  para  aquello  traian.  Preo-un- 
tavan  a  los  que  eran  gi-andecillos  si  avian  hecho  algun  peccado  y  tocamiento 
feo,  y  si  lo  avian  liecho  confessavanlo,  y  separavanlos  de  los  otros. 

Esto  hecho  mandava  el  sacerdote  callar  y  sentar  la  gente,  y  comen(java 
el  a  bendezir  con  muchas  oraciones  a  los  mochachos,  y  a  santiguarlos  con 
su  isopo,  y  con  mucha  serenidad.  Acabada  su  bendicion  se  sentava  5^  se 
levantava  el  principal  que  avian  los  padres  de  los  mochachos  elegido  para 
esta  fiesta,  y  con  un  guesso  que  el  sacerdote  le  dava  iva  a  los  mochachos  y 
amagava  a  cada  uno  por  si  nueve  vezes  con  el  guesso  en  que  la  frente; 
despues  mojavale  en  un  vaso  de  una  agua  llevava  en  la  mano,  5^  untavales 
la  frente,  y  las  faciones  del  rostro  y  entre  los  dedos  de  los  piez  y  los  de  las 
manos  a  todos  sin  hablar  palabra.  Esta  agua  hazian  de  ciertas  flores  y 
de  cacao  mojado  y  desleido  con  agua  virgen  que  ellos  dezian  traida  de 
los  concaves  de  los  arboles  o  de  los  moutes. 

Acabada  esta  unctura  se  levantava  el  sacerdote  y  les  quitava  los  panos 
blancos  de  la  cabe^a  y  otros  que  tenian  colgados  a  las  espaldas  en  que  cada 
uno  traia  atadas  unas  pocas  de  plumas  de  un  paxaro  muy  hermoso  y  algunos 
cacaos,  lo  qual  todo  recogia  uno  de  los  chaces,  y  luego  el  sacerdote  les  cor- 
tava  a  los  niiios  coii  una  navaja  de  piedra  la  cueuta  que  avian  traido  pegada 
en  la  cabe<;a;  tras  esto  ivan  los  demas  ayudantes  del  sacerdote  con  un 
manojo  de  flores  y  un  humatjo  que  los  indios  usan  chupar;  y  amagavan  con 
cada  uno  dellos  nueve  vezes  a  cada  mochacho,  3'  despues  davanle  a  olerlas 
flores  y  a  chupar  el  huma^o.  Despues  recogiau  los  presents  que  las  madres 
traian  y  davan  dellos  a  cada  mochacho  un  poco  para  comer  alii,  ca  de  comida 
eran  los  presentes,  y  tomavan  un  buen  vaso  de  vino  y  presto  en  medio 
ofrecianlo  a  los  dioses  y  con  devotas  plegarias  les  rogavan  recibiessen  aquel 
don  pequeno  de  aquellos  mochachos,  y  llamando  otro  oficial  que  les  ayudava 
que  llamavan  Cayom  davanse  lo  que  lo  beviesse,  lo  qual  hazia  sin  descan(;ar 
que  diz  que  era  peccado. 

[Translation.  J 

Manner  of  baptism  in  Yucatan} 

This  is  the  custom  which  they  had  for  preparing  them  for  baptism : 
The  women  were  directed  to  raise  the  children  to  the  age  of  three  years, 

Sec.  XXVI,  page  14-'>. 


232  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TEOANO. 

putting  on  tlie  head  of  the  little  boys  something  white,  fastened  among  the 
locks  at  the  back  part  of  the  head;  as  to  the  little  girls,  they  wore  hanging 
down  from  the  girdle  a  very  slender  cord,  to  which  a  small  shell  was 
attached,  which  happened  to  be  found  placed  exactly  above  the  sexual 
parts.  It  w^as  regarded  as  a  great  fault  and  a  very  wrong  action  to  remove 
these  things  from  the  little  girls  before  their  baptism,  which  was  always 
administered  between  three  and  twelve  years,  and  they  were  never  married 
before.  When  any  one  desired  to  have  his  child  baptized,  he  went  to  the 
priest  and  communicated  his  intention  to  him;  the  priest  published  the  bap- 
tism throughout  the  community,  taking  care  always  that  the  ceremony 
should  not  fall  on  an  unlucky  day.  This  done,  he  who  had  made  the  propo- 
sition, and  who  consequently  took  charge  of  tlie  feast,  chose  at  his  fancy 
one  of  the  chief  men  of  the  place,  in  order  to  aid  him  in  all  that  had  refer- 
ence to  it.  After  that  it  was  the  custom  to  choose  still  four  others  from 
among  the  oldest  and  most  honorable,  who  assisted  the  priest  in  his  duties 
on  the  day  of  the  feast.  This  choice  was  always  made  with  the  consent  ot 
the  priest  himself  The  fathers  of  all  the  infants  to  be  baptized  had  an 
equal  part  in  this  election,  for  the  feast  was  a  resort  for  all.  To  those  who 
had  been  chosen  to  accompany  the  priest  they  gave  the  title  of  Chac. 
During  the  three  days  preceding  the  ceremony  the  fathers  of  the  children, 
as  well  as  these  officers,  abstained  from  intercourse  with  their  wives. 

On  the  day  designated  all  assembled  at  the  house  of  him  who  gave  the 
feast,  l)ringing  with  them  the  children  to  be  baptized.  They  ranged  them 
in  the  court  or  a  place  in  the  house,  which  had  been  swept  and  ornamented 
with  leaves;  the  boys  placed  themselves  on  one  side,  under  the  charge  -of  a 
man  who  filled  the  office  of  godfather  in  regard  to  them;  and  on  the  other 
side  the  girls,  to  whom  they  appointed  a  matron  to  take  care  of  them  When 
this  was  completed  the  priest  busied  himself  with  purifying  the  house,  dis- 
pelling the  evil  spirit  from  the  place.  For  this  purpose  they  placed  a  small 
bench  at  the  four  corners  of  the  court;  the  four  Chacs  seated  themselves, 
stretching  a  cord  from  one  to  the  other  in  such  a  manner  that  the  children 
remained  in  some  sort  confined  in  the  center,  after  which  the  fathers  all 
together,  who  had  observed  the  fast  until  this  time,  passed  the  cord  to  enter 
into  the  inclosure.  In  the  center  there  was  another  Ijench,  where  the  priest 
was  seated,  having  lieside  a  brazier  witli  l)ruised  maize  and  incense. 


TB0MA6.)  MODE  OF  BAPTISM  IN  YUCATAN.  233 

The  little  boys  and  girls  approached  in  order,  and  the  priest  placed  in 
their  hands  some  maize  and  incense,  which  they  threw  one  by  one  into  the 
brazier.  This  finished  and  the  incensing  being  terminated,  they  raised  the 
brazier  and  the  cord  with  which"  the  Chacs  had  formed  the  inclosure.  They 
poured  a  little  wine  into  a  vase  or  vessel,  which  they  gave,  with  these  things, 
to  a  man  to  carry  out  of  the  village,  and  charged  him  especially  not  to 
drink  the  wine  and  not  to  look  behind  him  on  his  return  In  this  manner 
the  evil  spirit  was  said  to  be  dispelled. 

The  yard  was  then  swept  and  decorated  with  leaves  which  were  found 
there,  and  were  the  leaves  of  a  tree  called  ciliom ;  they  substituted  them  with 
others  of  a  tree  called  copo,  and  stretched  some  mats,  during  which  time 
the  priest  changed  his  clothes.  He  appeared  soon  after,  clothed  in  a  tunic 
of  red  feathers,  worked  with  other  feathers  of  different  colors,  and  from 
which  hung  other  feathers  still  finer;  also,  underneath,  a  large  quantity  of 
ribljons  of  cotton,  which  hung  down  to  the  ground.  On  his  head  he  wore 
a  kind  of  miter,  embroidered  with  plumage  in  the  same  manner,  and  in  his 
hand  a  small  holy-water  sprinkler  of  wood,  carved  skillfully,  of  which  the 
filaments  were  of  the  tails  of  serpents,  similar  to  serpents  with  rattles.  He 
came  out  thus,  having  neither  more  nor  less  gravity  than  a  pope  would  have- 
in  crowning  an  emperor;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  thing  to  see  the  serenity 
which  all  this  apparel  gave  him. 

The  Chacs  immediately  advanced  towards  the  children  and  placed 
white  linen  cloths,  which  their  mothers  had  brought  for  this  purpose,  on 
their  heads.  They  then  asked  the  oldest  if  they  had  committed  no  wrong  or 
inmiodest  action ;  and  if  they  had  they  confessed  and  were  separated  from  the 
rest.  This  done,  the  priest  commanded  all  to  seat  themselves  and  be  silent; 
he  then  began  to  bless  the  children  with  certain  prayers  and  to  consecrate 
them  with  the  holy  water,  with  much  dignity.  The  benediction  finished,  he 
sat  down.  The  one  chosen  by  the  fathers  of  the  infants  to  aid  especially 
in  this  ceremony,  then  rose,  and,  armed  with  a  bone,  which  the  priest  gave 
him,  he  went  to  each  child  and  passed  it  in  front  of  him  nine  times;  he  then 
dipped  it  in  a  vessel  of  water  which  he  carried  in  his  hand  and  anointed  them 
on  the  forehead  and  face,  also  the  interstices  of  the  fingers  and  toes,  without 
saying  a  single  word.     This  water  was  composed  of  certain  flowers  and 


234  A  STUDY  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  TKOANO. 

cacao  soaked  and  diluted  in  tlie  jDure  water  which  they  said  sprang  from 
cavities  in  the  woods  or  mountains. 

After  this  anointing  the  priest  rose;  he  took  from  their  heads  the  white 
cloths  which  had  been  placed  on  them,  also  others  which  they  had  on  their 
shoulders,  where  each  one  woi'e  some  feathers  of  a  very  beautiful  bird  and 
some  grains  of  cacao.  One  of  the  Chacs  collected  these  things,  after  which 
the  priest  cut  off  from  the  heads  of  the  little  boys  that  which  they  wore 
fastened  on  them  with  a  stone  knife.  Behind  the  priest  walked  his  other 
assistant,  a  bouquet  of  flowers  in  his  hand,  with  a  pipe  with  perfume,  which 
the  Indians  were  accustomed  to  smoke;  they  made  nine  passes  with  it 
before  each  child  and  then  gave  them  one  by  one  the  flowers  to  smell  and 
the  pipe  to  smoke.  They  then  collected  the  presents  which  the  mothers  had 
brought,  and  gave  a  little  food  to  the  children,  the  same  amount  to  each 
infant,  for  these  presents  consisted  of  eatables.  They  took  one  large  bowl 
filled  with  wine  and  hastily  offered  it  to  the  gods,  conjuring  them  with 
words  of  devotion  to  accept  of  this  feeble  homage  on  the  part  of  the  chil- 
di-en;  then  calling  another  officer,  whose  title  was  Cai/om,  they  gave  him 
the  vessel,  which  he  must  empty  at  a  draught;  for  him  to  stop  to  take 
breath  would  have  been  wrong:. 


IIS'DEX. 


Page. 
Aguilar,  Don  Pedro  Sanchez  de,  on  Maya  manuscript.        xxi 

Ahau  or  Knton 5,14 

the  number  of  years  in  an 28-32 

Abau-Katun  or  grand  cycle 5 

the  first  year  of  an 32 

Ahaues,  location  of  the,  in  grand  cycle 26-28 

Ahbulnc  balam  (Maya  deity) 66, 94 

Ahcan  Uolcab  (Maya  deity) 66,  04 

Abkul-Chel,  propbecy  of xxix 

Ajpula,  date  of  death  of 13,32,49,50,51 

Allen,  Harrison,  on  Landa's  alphabet xxxv 

Armadillo 97 

symbol 15, 145 

BacabCanzienal  (deity) 63 

Hobnil  (deity) 61 

zac-ciui  (deity) 64 

Bancroft,  omission  by,  in  translation 55 

Baptism,  mode  of,  original  from  Landa 228-231 

translation 231-233 

Birdcage 134 

Bissextile  years  in  the  Maya  system iv 

Blaclc  numerals,  use  of  the 21,24 

iDdicate  the  month 23 

Bolloert,  "Will  iam,  eiforts  at  translating ixxiv 

Bidon-zacab  (Maya  deity) 60,09 

Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  in  reference  to  the  length  of 

the  Ahau  193 

eflbrts    at    translating    the 

manuscript  Troano xxxiv 

Bread  symbol 80, 81, 156 

Briuton,  D.  G ivii 

C:ilendar  Maya 5 

condensed  (Table  V).   11 

for  one  year  (Table  n) 8 

wheel,  figure  of  the 127 

Cardinal  points  assigned  the  years 41 

Dominical  days  assigned  to 68 

Maya  words  for  the 74 

symbols  of  the 70, 74, 144 

Cauac  year,  sacrifices  at  the  commencement  of  the. .  65 

Chac 77,87,101,104 

Chacancantun  or  Chac  Acantun  (deity) 62,63 

Chac-ulTayeyab  (Maya  deity) 62,81,82 

Chalchibuitlicue  (Mexican  goddess) 102 

Characters  of  the  manuscript  compared  with  Landa's .  2 

Charency,  Hyacinthe  de,  efforts  at  translating xxxiv 

Chen,  festivals  in  the  month  223 

Chiapan  (or  Tzendal)  and  Soconnscan  calendar 198 

Chicehac.chob  (deity) 66,94,101 

Chichenltza  194,197 

Chilan  Balam,  prophecy  of 195 

Cigar 135 

Cimi,  unusual  character  of 1(5 

Clavirgero,  concerning  bees 115 


Page. 

Codex  Cortesianns 20 

Dresden xxx,  xxxri,  25, 41, 42, 67, 68, 71, 78, 85, 89 

Peresianns Txxxii,  20 

Troano xxxii 

Tro xxxii 

Cogulludo,  Diaz  Lopez,  on  Maya  characters xxiii 

concerning  date  of  destruction  of  Mayapan  48 

in  reference  to  cardinal  points  assigned 

the  years 69 

Colebil.xbolon.chac  (goddess  of  the  apiarists) 117 

Conclusions 51 

Cross 117 

Cycle  5,10,32,35 

Dance  on  high  stilts 79 

Dates,  discussion  of,  with  special  reference  to  those 

of  the  Perez  manuscript 187-197 

method  of  giving ,.,*  13 

Day  characters 3,5 

Days,  method  of  numbering  the 3-7 

Diaz,  Bemal,  in  reference  to  implements  of  warfare. .         127 

Dog  images  used  in  dances 79 

Dresden  Codex xxx,  xxxvi,  25, 41, 42, 67,  68, 71,  78, 85, 89 

reference  to  four  plates  of  the 5G 

Eli-balam-chao  (deity) IX,  Hi 

Eliel  Acantun  (deity) 66 

Ek-u-Uayeyab  (deity) 65,81,82 

Etel-ceh,  ancient  name  of  Yucatan 96 

Fan  or  bat 134 

Festivals  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  Canao. .    65, 214 

.  Ix 63,212 

Kan  ...    59,209 
Muluc.    62,211 
of  the  difierent  months,  translated  from 

Landa,  Appendix  No.  3 216-227 

in  the  month  Chen 223 

Mac 224 

Mol 222 

Muan 225 

Pax 225 

Pop....^ 210 

Tzec 220 

Tzoz 220 

Uo 218 

Xul 220 

Yax 223 

Yaxkin 221 

Zac * 224 

Zip 219 

of  the  supplementary  days  ..  41,59,67,208-215,227 

Figures  and  characters,  explanation  of 59 

suggestions  as  to  the  meaning  of  certain 93 

Footprints 125 

Forsterman,  Dr.,  on  the  Dresden  Cordex xxxvi 

God  of  death 77 

235 


236 


INDEX. 


Grand  cycle  or  Ahau-Kalun . .  28-32 

Oraud  cycles  compared  with  yc^ira  of  the  Christian 

era 193,190 

Graphic  system,  the xviii 

Uerrera  in  reference  to  Chichcn-Itza 194 

Mayapan 192 

Tucatcc  iraplomen'8  of  war- 
fare     ]2G_ 

lloUU-n,  Edward  S,,  on   Ci-ntral-Amencan  picture- 
writing  sxxvi 

t  ho  Lcyden  stone   104 

Honey  sjTnbol  .'. :...... 117,127 

ITouso  s^Tnbols  or  figures 128, 131 

Ilonses;  method  of  building,  from  Landa,  origiml   . . .  227 

translation.  129 

Hultzilopoctli  (Mexican  god)  .             104-100 

Iraix  or  Ymix.proba  ly  a  symbol  of  maize 80 

ImpltiUK-nt  (use  unknown)    133 

Indication,  or  week  of  years 9 

Interpretation  of  characters 140,  IGl 

luteiTals-  between  days  in  day  coluii.ns 15, 24 

Introduction......   .: xvii-xxxvii 

Itzarana  (Zanina) 81-82 

Itzcn-caan  (a  nanie  of  Zamna) ■ •  . . .  81 

Ix  year,  festivals  at  the  commencement  of  the 63 

Ix  kan  Leox  (female  divinity) 81 

Ix  mol  (dees) . . .v - 106 

Kan  chaiacter  a  symbol  of  mnize 157 

Kan  symbol  as  used  in  Plates  XX-XXIII 88 

Kan  year,  festivals  at  the  commencement  of  the 59 

Kanal  Acantum  (Maya  deity)   60 

Kan-u-TTavcyab  (Maya  deity) 01,  69, 72,  81,  82 

Katun 14,  52 

Perea'a  explanation  of  the  term 90 

Katnnes,  method  of  numbering  the 14 

Kik,  symbol  for 92 

Kinch- Ahau  (Maya  deity) 62, 84 

•    Itzamna  or  Tzamna  (Maya  deity) 65,  84 

Kuculcan 81,82 

Landa,  concerning  the  festivals  of  the  bec-herpers  . .  116 

Diego  de,  on  Maya  writing xxiv 

in  reference  to  cardinal  points 69 

to  Tucatec  implements  of  war- 
fare.....   127 

Landa's    characters   compared  with    those  of  the 

maciiscript.... 2 

"Ilelacion  do  Cosas,"  quoted 47,  52 

Leg  of  venison,  character  for  a 76 

List  of  days  for  one  month,  Table  I 8 

of  illustrations xiii 

Lizana,  Bemardo  de,  on  ]iA.ya  characters xxi 

Lustre 56 

Mac,  festivals  of  the  month , 2J4 

Machete  or  hatchet   . .  125 

Manufactuie  of  idols 119,120,1^2 

Manuscript  Troano  and  its  character 1 

•     found  by  BrassenrdeBourbonrg.  1 
named  for  Don  Juan  de  Tro  y  Or- 

tolano 1 

/(TC  simile  edition 1 

pagingofthe ^     2 

MaityT,  Peter,  description  of  Maya  manuscripts six 

Matting 134 

Maya  alphabet,  Landa's 141 

books 1 xxviii 

calendar 5 


Maya  date 


ilhth( 


of  thoChristi; 


mouths   

Mayapan    191, 

date  of  destruction  of 

Melgar,  Sonor,  quotation  from 

Method  of  snaring  game 

Mexican  symbol  for  d;iy  and  year 

Mimosa  leaf 

Mol,  festival  of  the  month 

Month  characters   

Mortars,  figures  of 

Muan,  f.-stival  of  the  month  ..^ 

Mulue  year,  festivals-at  the  commencement  of  tho. .. 

Nahau  Pech,  i>rophecy  o-f 

Numeml  characters ^ 

N  umcrals,  blaelt- 


I'age 


19:i.  107 
4S.  51 


red 


Paint-pots      . . . ; .  -■ 

Palenque  tablet ■■ : 

expl.ination  of  certain  char.icters 

on  the : 

four  characters  by  the  cross  

order  in  which  the  iuacriplion  is  ^o 

be  read-....; ; 

signification  of  lines  and  dots  on  the 

Pax,  festival  of  the  month 

Peresianiis,  Codex x: 

Perez,  Sc nor, -quoted 

Crnnologia  antigua    . .   

in  reference  to  cardinal  points     

■  manuscript.  13, 3) 

discussed  with  reference  to 

dates : 

original  Maya  of  the 

translation  of  llio 

Dr.  Valcntini  on  the 

Phonetic?  are  these  characters 

Plate  III,  explanation  of  figures  on 

VI,  explanation  of  figures  on  

VII,  explanation  of  figures  on 

XIII,  explanation  of  figures  on 

VIIT-XIX,  explanation  of  figures  on     

XX-XXIU,  nnm))cr3on 

XXIV-XXVIII,  explanation  of  figures  on  .. 
XXIX-XXXIII,  explanation  of  figures  on  . 

I*-IX*,  explanation  of  figures  on 

XI1--XVII-,  .xplanalioii  of  figures  on 

X  VTII  -XXI.  explimatitin  of  figures  on 

XXII'-XXV^,  explanation  ofligures  on  .... 

Pop,  festival  of  the  month 

Quotzalco.ill i 

Quiche  and  Cakchiquel  calendar 

Ilains  and  storms,  representaliou  of. 

liau,  Charles,  on  Palenque  tablet 

index  diagram  to  the  Palenque  tablet 

Hed  numeials,  explanation  of 

Itcsults  of  my  investigations 

Kope-makiug  or  weaving 

Eosny,  Leon  de;  essay  on- decipherment  Of  Ceutial- 

Amencanpicture-\\T:t'ng -■ 

Schultz-SeHac/Dr.Carl,  on  Dresden  Codex  

Serpent  as  a  symbol^ : -- 

Spanish  writers,  description  of  MSS.  by - 

Ppear ..:...    : - 

St^  A  udrcw's  cross   


96 

97-101 

18-19 

J 01-107 

108-111 

114-118 

119-1-0 

121 

122 


INDEX. 


237 


Stephens  in  reference  to  preserving  bonts  of  the 

dead 

Stephens'  Yucatan 

Stone  8>  mbol 74, 

Supplemental  days,  feasts  of  the 41, 59,  C7,  208-215, : 

Table  1 1  — Maya  calendar  for  one  year 

III. — Kan  table  of  years 

IV. — Cauac  tabic  of  years 

V. — Condeosed  Maya  calendar 

VI.— Of  .years  

Vn.— Of  jears 

Vni.— Of  years 

3X.— Of  yt;ara 

X. — Of  years 

XI. — Years  of  an  Ahau  with  names  of 

the  years  

XII. — Years  of  an  Ahau 

Xni,  XIV,  XV.— Years  of'  period  desig- 
nated by  Plates  XX-XXIII 

XVI. — Group  of  years  derived  from  dates 

on  Plate  XXXI 

XVII. — Locating  the  Ahaues  in  the  grand 

cycle 

XVm. — Locating  the  Ahaues  in  the  grand 

C3'Cl6 

XIX.— Locating  the  Ahaues  in  the  grand 

cycle 

XX.  -Extended  list  of  years  of  8th,  6th, 

and  4th  Ahaues 

XXI.— Grand  cycle  of  years 

XXII-  —Grand  cycle  of  years 

XXIII. — One  cycle  of  years 

Table  of  contents 


Page. 

Tapestry  or  cartains ^ , .  134 

Title  page  of  the  mannscript Ill 

Tlaloc  (deity) 105,100 

Tzec,  festival  in  the  month 220 

Tzoz,  festival  in  the  month 220 

Uae-Mitun-Ahau  (deity) 65 

Ua  Katun,  a  key  to  find  the  Katunes 19, 55 

Uayeb-haab 56, 57, 70,  87 

Uayeyab  idols 76, 81,  82 

Uo,  festival  in  the  month 218 

Valentini,  Philipp  J.  J.,  on  Landa's  alphabet xxv 

Dr.,  on  tlxe  Perez  manuscript 30 

Vase  character,  or  symbol 88, 145 

Villagufieriie,  Don  Juan  de,  on  Maya  books xxiii 

Week,  the 7 

of  years 0 

Wood  symbol..., ! 134 

Written  characters 136,  ICl 

Xuuc,  Yncattc  goddess 103,106 

Xul,  festival  of  the  month 220 

Yax,  ffstival  iu  the  month 223 

Yaxkin,  festival  in  the  month 221 

Yaxcoc-Ahmut  (deity) 63, 70 

Year  bearers 11 

Years  assigned  to  cardinal  points 41 

method  of  naming  and  numbering  the 9 

Yzamna 64 

-cauil  (deity) 61 

Zac,  festival  iu  the  month 224 

Zac-Acantun  (deity) C4 

Zac-u-Uayeyab  (deity) (J4 

ZamDa 81,82 

Zip,  festival  in  the  month 219 


3  3125  00025   1096 


